Obsession in New Orleans
by LuckyLadybug
Summary: Post-series, my Pendulum Swings verse. Lector is mysteriously summoned to New Orleans by his estranged father, and the rest of the Big 5 go with him. At the same time, Shadi appears and warns Atem of a great evil stirring in New Orleans, one that he and everyone else must defeat. And Seto Kaiba is "vital." As the villain starts targeting everyone, dangers and heartache abound.
1. Chapter 1

**Yu-Gi-Oh!**

 **Obsession in New Orleans**

 **By Lucky_Ladybug**

 **Notes: The characters from the show are not mine. Any other characters and the story are! This is part of my post-series** _ **Pendulum Swings**_ **verse, which started as a Yami Bakura redemption arc and has now also redeemed the Big Five. It continues shortly after** _ **A Christmas to Remember**_ **, but I'm not sure if that needs to have been read first or if one can follow along easily enough just with this story.**

 **Chapter One**

Atem had been sitting awake for some time, staring across the room he shared with Yugi without really focusing on anything on it. The moonlight shone through the skylight, its beams highlighting Yugi as well as various objects in the room. Yugi remained sound asleep, without any knowledge of either that or Atem's troubled feelings.

He wasn't sure why he was restless tonight, really; everything had been going so well. On the other hand, maybe that was exactly why he was restless. Whenever they were allowed some respite from their problems, more generally followed within a short amount of time.

"Good evening, my Pharaoh."

Atem jumped a mile. Shadi had suddenly appeared in the room, standing to the side of his bed.

Atem looked to him with a jerk. "What are you doing here?!" he exclaimed. "And why now, after all the times I petitioned you to come? I needed you to take a message to my priest Seto about Khu, but you never came!"

"You did not need me then," Shadi answered. "It is now when my message is most gravely needed."

Atem rocked back. "Well, what on Earth is it?"

"First I must tell you that I was waiting until now to come because of what needed to transpire first," Shadi continued. "The men known as the Big Five had to choose to fully relinquish all ties to their old, vindictive lives and fully embrace lives where they are not trying to harm Seto Kaiba. Due to Gozaburo Kaiba's intrusion on everyone's lives several weeks ago, this came to pass at long last."

"Are you saying that the Big Five are important?" Atem stared at him. "I know that angel Kasumi said she had permission to revive them because it wasn't their time to die yet, but I didn't know their presence would ever bring you here."

"Their ancestors served as your priest Seto's Millennium Item Guardians, as of course you know after your time spent in the afterlife," Shadi said.

"Yes," Atem said slowly. "And ironically enough, they were unceasingly loyal."

"Their modern-day descendants have the same courage and determination," Shadi went on, "and the same capacity for loyalty. This is obvious from their devotion to each other and the protectiveness they have started to openly display towards each other and others—even Seto Kaiba, the one they hated. Yes, they are important to the future of the world. They have long been negatively influenced by cynicism and hatred and bitterness and are still just newly experiencing their journey back to the light.

"Very soon they will begin another journey, one that will lead to darkness and heartache and despair." Shadi looked firmly at Atem. "They will encounter a great evil, one that will try to devastate all of them. If left unchecked, that evil will spread and eventually try to destroy the entire world."

"Oh no," Atem gasped. "Is this the fight you've been preparing Yami Bakura for?!"

"No," Shadi said, "but this person could eventually join forces with the person who will bring about that fight."

Atem clenched a fist. "What would you have me do, Shadi?"

"You do not 'have' to do anything, my Pharaoh," Shadi said. "Your time of fighting is over. Yet you continue to fight on."

"Of course," Atem said. "I wouldn't leave my friends in danger."

"Very well." Shadi nodded. "This great evil is in the city of New Orleans, a corrupt _vodun_ priest who is using that art for wickedness and not for good. Soon you will hear that for reasons of their own, the Big Five are journeying to New Orleans. They have no knowledge of this man and would likely scoff at his claims of magical powers. They will already be at odds with him due to their reasons for going to the city, and if he somehow learns of their ancient Egyptian ancestors who wielded magic, the results may be catastrophic. You and the others must follow them to New Orleans. All of you together must defeat this man before he brings death and destruction across the city and eventually the world."

"Then we will do it," Atem promised.

"I know," said Shadi.

"But exactly who do you mean by 'the others'?" Atem asked. "Does that include Seto Kaiba as well?"

"He is vital," Shadi replied. "Aside from him, you may bring whomever you wish." Then he was gone. Atem was left staring at the spot where he had been.

"Atem?" Yugi stirred, blinking sleep out of his eyes. "What's going on?"

Atem started and looked to him. "A great deal," he said. "I finally had my conversation with Shadi, but it wasn't at all what I had expected."

Yugi sat up like a shot. "Shadi was here?!"

"Just now," Atem said. "I'll tell you what he told me."

xxxx

The Big Five were all awake that night, meeting at Gansley's house to work on their project of Crump's penguin sanctuary and theme park. Or four of them were, at least; one was still absent.

"I wonder where Lector is. . . . He said he'd come. . . ." Crump looked around the room impatiently, as if Lector might suddenly appear.

"Then he'll come," Gansley said calmly.

Nesbitt was silent, staring at the floor. Yesterday, Seto Kaiba had come to him while they were all at Nesbitt's house and had told him that after extensive testing by him and Scott Irvine, they had found that all the Duel Disks he had manipulated while under mind-control would not have detonated after thirty minutes, as he had threatened. He had been relieved about that, but after Seto's departure he had ran upstairs and locked himself in his room, sickened that he had ever disabled the safeties in the first place. Not only had he directly attacked Lector and tried to attack Gansley, but he could have killed all of them had the Duel Disks really exploded. He had already been so overwhelmed and grief-stricken about the direct attacks that he had not let himself think about the other problem, subconsciously feeling that he could not take that burden as well. No one had brought it up, either, knowing it was difficult enough to help him heal as it was.

Him locking himself in his room had worried all of the others, and outright terrified them when Johnson had revealed his prior concerns of whether Nesbitt might even try to kill himself because of being unable to handle his guilt and horror. He had promised he wasn't thinking of any such thing when they had come up and called through the door; he just needed to be alone for a while. They had been willing to respect that, but Lector had wanted to say one thing before they went back downstairs.

" _You know, Nesbitt, you understand technology. You had to know how the Duel Disks worked in order to take the safeties off in the first place, and while you were examining them you had to know they wouldn't really blow up . . . even though that thing made you say they would."_

That had brought Nesbitt to the door. He had opened it to stare in disbelief at the other man. _"Even Kaiba was worried about it,"_ he had retorted, _"and he invented them! It was a possibility at the very least."_

" _Alright, it was a possibility,"_ Lector had conceded. _"But it was a stronger possibility that they wouldn't."_

" _All of you seemed worried about it at the time,"_ Nesbitt had pointed out.

" _We'd have to all be fools not to be worried when that announcement of detonating the Duel Disks was made,"_ Lector had flatly responded. _"But it's obvious now that there was no real reason to worry."_

Nesbitt sighed, heavily. He was still sure Lector had only been saying those things to try to help him feel better. He and Lector had their differences and always would, but Lector would always be a loyal friend to him, better than Nesbitt was sure he deserved.

Crump looked over at him. "You okay?"

Nesbitt sat up straight. "Yes. I'm just wondering about Lector."

The sound of the doorbell brought all of their attention up. In a moment Nesbitt's maid appeared, with Lector in tow.

"So here you are," Gansley greeted.

"What was with the delay?" Crump asked. Spotting a piece of paper in Lector's hand, he added, "Does it have something to do with that?"

"Yes. It's a telegram," Lector told him. He looked from Crump to the others. "It's from my father."

"Your father?!" Gansley stared.

"He wants me to come to New Orleans," Lector said. "He doesn't say why, just to come as quickly as I can."

"That's odd." Nesbitt came to look at the telegram. "He disowned you and wouldn't even talk to you on the phone, and now he suddenly wants to talk to you with no explanation?"

"It would seem so." Troubled, Lector folded the telegram and put it in his pocket. "I'll have to go."

"Why?" Crump retorted. "I wouldn't jump through hoops for my parents, not after the way they've always treated me."

"My father used to love me," Lector said quietly. "You've never known that love from your parents, Crump, so you can't understand what it's like. Maybe he wants to reconcile. Or maybe there's some trouble."

"If there's trouble, best to stay out of it," Crump said.

"I don't want him hurt," Lector shot back. "Or my mother or my brothers or my sisters. I'm going."

"Then we're coming with you," Crump declared.

Lector looked to him in surprise. "After everything you just got through saying?"

"Hey, just because I don't agree with you wanting to go doesn't mean I won't support you when you do," Crump said. "If you think there's trouble, then we need to be there for you."

The other three nodded in agreement.

Lector was still amazed. "But . . . what about working on the project?"

"We can't do that without all of us," Crump said.

"Anyway, even if there isn't trouble, I'm sure you could use some support," Johnson said. "It can't be easy facing family who left you out in the cold."

"That's true," Lector admitted. "Yes . . . I really would appreciate it if you came. All of you."

"We all will," Gansley promised.

"Of course," Johnson added.

Nesbitt, who still had trouble opening up, finally pushed back his pride and said, "We won't leave you to deal with this alone." Lector had showed him nothing but understanding and kindness regarding the mind-control disaster, even though he had been the one Nesbitt had hurt the most seriously. Nesbitt had every intention of doing all he could to be there for him in turn.

"Thank you," Lector said quietly.

xxxx

Seto sat at the desk in his home office, deeply frowning as he stared at the green strongbox Mokuba had removed from Gozaburo's bedroom. The key was still missing and no one had any idea what was inside. Crump's maid Cora had insisted that none of them had any interest in Gozaburo's belongings and that making Seto think they did had been a red herring to distract from their true motives. Maybe that was true, but Seto was still troubled wondering about the key's location and the box's contents.

The key could have been missing for years, for all he'd know. Gozaburo could have taken it with him to his underground fortress. Maybe they would never know one way or another, but Seto had the bad feeling that someday this mess would come back to bite him.

The sharp ringing of the phone startled him back to the present and he grabbed the receiver. Who would be calling at this hour? "Kaiba."

"Hello, Kaiba," Atem's voice greeted him.

Seto leaned back in his chair. "Shouldn't even you be in bed right now, Pharaoh? What's going on?"

"Well . . ." Atem awkwardly cleared his throat. "It's . . . kind of hard to explain. . . ."

"For you?" Seto said in disbelief.

"I doubt you will want to hear this, but I have been contacted by Shadi tonight," Atem said. "To cut to the point, we need to go to New Orleans."

" _WHAT?!"_ Seto shot upright. "What on Earth for?!"

"Apparently there is a great evil there that we must stop before it aligns with an even greater evil," Atem said. "Shadi said that if that happens, the entire world could be in danger."

Seto clenched his teeth. _Not again!_ he silently fumed in despair. "And just what is this 'great evil'?"

"I don't know details," Atem said slowly, "but he's a corrupted _vodun_ priest."

". . . You're kidding. Please tell me you're kidding."

"I know it sounds outlandish . . ."

"That's the problem," Seto interrupted. "It sounds so outlandish that with our luck, it's probably true. Ugh." He leaned forward on the desk, passing a hand over his forehead. "I don't think I want to hear any more. How many people have to go to New Orleans? Duke Devlin has money too, you know."

"Yes, but it would take a great deal of money for him to put all of us on a commercial jet," Atem said. "You have access to private planes."

"That doesn't answer the question," Seto said.

"All of the usual group will be going—myself, Yugi, Joey, Tristan, Téa, Bakura, Yami Bakura. . . . The Ishtars will all be there. Duke and Serenity may come, although of course Joey doesn't want Serenity along. . . . Mai has insisted on coming. And . . ." A long pause. "Kaiba, Shadi said you are 'vital.'"

"Oh no," Seto immediately retorted. "You are not dragging me into a fight against some nut who uses cloth dolls and made-up spells to torture susceptible people who are idiotic enough to believe it works."

"Well, if you believe that's all it is, then surely you won't have any trouble fighting the man at all." Seto could _hear_ the amused smile on Atem's face.

"Look, Pharaoh. Why would Shadi say my presence was vital?" Seto snapped.

Atem sighed, heavily. "I didn't want to get into this yet, Kaiba, but I'm not fully sure of the answer myself, unless it has to do with what else Shadi told me."

"Could this get any worse than it is already?" Seto growled.

". . . When I was in the afterlife, I met the people who were your ancestor's Millennium Item Guardians," Atem said at last. "One of them was Roland's ancestor."

"Well, that makes some semblance of sense," Seto grunted.

"The others were the ancestors of the Big Five." Atem fell silent, waiting for the eruption.

Instead, Seto just snorted. "And what? They betrayed my 'ancestor' and nearly caused the destruction of Egypt?"

"Actually, they were completely loyal to him," Atem said.

"How nicely ironic." Seto let his arm drop to the desk. "So what relevance does that have with the here and now?"

"I'm not fully sure of that either," Atem admitted, "but Shadi said the Big Five are also capable of that kind of loyalty. They have certainly displayed it in their love for each other. He fears for their safety from this evil. They're apparently going to New Orleans for other reasons, but will end up encountering the _vodun_ priest."

"So basically, you want me to go to New Orleans to help chaperone the Big Five," Seto said flatly.

"I don't know that I would put it exactly like that," Atem said. "We're all supposed to fight this evil together, including you and they."

"Great."

"They did try to protect you from Gozaburo at the risk of their own lives," Atem reminded him.

"That's still hard to believe," Seto said. "I didn't see it happen."

"No, but you felt their light along with everyone else's when you were trapped in Gozaburo's memory world," Atem said. "And you did agree with them to bury the hatchet."

Finally Seto exhaled, sharply and in frustration. "Alright. I'll have a private jet at the airport for all of us. When do you plan to leave?"

"In the morning, probably," Atem said. "Everyone is packing now."

"Are you planning to tell the Big Five about all of this?"

"Well, I . . ." Atem paused, talking to Yugi in the background. In a moment he got back on the line. "Yugi has already called them. He managed to learn that they're going to New Orleans because Lector's father suddenly cabled for him to come. He didn't tell them about Shadi's message yet, but he implored them to be very careful."

"Lector's father?" Seto's eyes narrowed. He still remembered calling to tell him that Lector had fallen into a coma and might never wake up. The man had been silent for a long moment and then had finally said, _"Démas is no longer my son. Whatever happens to him is of no consequence to me."_ Mokuba, who had been there, had been badly shaken for a parent to behave in such a way.

"Yes," Atem sighed.

"I doubt any of them will be happy about the hocus-pocus nonsense," Seto said.

"Most likely not," Atem agreed. "Nor are any of us. You should have heard Joey's reaction."

"Oh, I can well imagine." Joey's fear of anything supernatural was almost legendary. "Alright, you'd better go pack. I'll see you in the morning."

"Thank you, Kaiba. Oh . . . and will Mokuba be coming?"

Seto scowled. "I'd rather he didn't, but I don't know where he'd be safest. If I take him, he gets hurt. If I leave him behind, he gets hurt. Everyone uses him against me and Marik!" He gripped the phone. "I guess in the end I'd rather have him with me. And of course I know he'll want to come."

"Then we will see you both in the morning," Atem said. "Thank you again." He hung up.

Seto sat at his desk for a long moment, his fingers laced and propped under his chin as he stared into the distance. What were they getting into?

At last he stood. He didn't want to wake Mokuba now, but he would get him up early enough in the morning to pack. Meanwhile, he was going to try to get some sleep himself . . . although he doubted it was possible.

"Voodoo," he said aloud to the empty room. "Of all the things I never thought I would have to deal with in my lifetime."

And he still wouldn't have to deal with it if he didn't take Atem's or Shadi's words seriously. It hadn't been that long ago that he wouldn't have. But he had been forced to accept that it was all true. There still were a lot of nutcases who believed in magic where there wasn't any, but Atem and Shadi always seemed to know when it was real.

Not to mention that those people were his friends now, for the most part. He didn't want them to get hurt. And, unfortunately, if Shadi felt that he was "vital" to this mission, well then, he probably was.

Scowling, he stalked out of the room and upstairs.

xxxx

Dr. Portman was at the console in her van, twisting knobs and turning dials, when Yami Marik suddenly appeared just to the side of it.

"Well, hello," Portman purred in greeting. "I've just been listening in at Mr. Kaiba's house. Everyone is going to New Orleans."

"I know," Yami Marik leered. "I couldn't be more pleased."

"Neither can I. All that we did for the last part of the experiment was so enjoyable and intriguing. Now, to have the chance to continue our work in a land of dark mysteries and magic?" Portman's eyes gleamed. "It will definitely stretch Mr. Kaiba's nerves to their limit, and I'm certain that the thief and the Big Five won't like it either, not when all the mysteries and the magic turn against them!"

Yami Marik cackled. "They will make plenty of enemies without us even doing anything. But if all goes well, I'm sure we'll want to personally step in and manipulate events at some point along the way."

"I certainly will." Portman leaned back. "I just need to arrange a flight down there."

"Oh, no need for that," Yami Marik grinned. With a wave of his hand, they and the entire van vanished in a cloud of purple smoke. The only trace of them left was Yami Marik's mad cackling on the wind.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

It was a strange and tumultuous scene at the airport that morning, as everyone trickled in to get into Seto's private jet.

"So do we really have to do this?" Joey gulped, his knees quaking.

"Of course we really have to do this," Téa scolded. "Shadi said we have to fight this great evil before it gets worse!"

Mai nodded. "So you'll just have to suck it up, Chicken Boy."

"I know, but does it really have to be a voodoo priest?" Joey wailed.

"It'll be fine, Joey," Serenity soothed. "After all, we've faced a lot of weird bad guys before."

"We'll probably all get sent voodoo dolls with pins in them and stuff," Joey exclaimed. "And I really don't like you being along, Sis. Who knows what'll go wrong!"

"I wasn't going to stay behind," Serenity replied. "Anyway, I'll have you and Duke and Tristan with me, not to mention everyone else. I feel completely safe."

"I wish I did," Joey muttered.

"Hey, maybe it'll be fun," Tristan said. "It's Mardi Gras time, after all. There'll be parades and costumes and . . ."

"Ghosts!" Joey trembled.

"Not real ones," Duke said with a roll of his eyes. "Just people dressed up."

"Isn't it bad enough we have to do this once a year for Halloween?" Joey shot back. "Why does there have to be creepy stuff at other times of the year too?!"

"Because the occult never sleeps," Yami Bakura intoned eerily from behind him.

Joey screamed, jumping a mile in the air.

"Yami!" Bakura scolded as he approached holding Oreo. But he had to admit he was more amused than reproachful.

Yami Bakura laughed. "You're going to have to get used to things that go bump in the night in New Orleans," he said to Joey, who clenched his teeth.

"You'd better watch it, or I'll make you go bump all over the floor!" he yelled indignantly.

That was the scene Seto discovered as he and Mokuba walked up to them. "He'd trounce you, Wheeler," Seto flatly remarked.

Joey fumed. "I know that, Rich Boy. But it felt good to say it, at least."

Mokuba looked to Bakura. "You're bringing your cat?"

"Well . . ." Bakura petted Oreo, who meowed in response. "Father isn't home, so we really couldn't leave her. I did consider asking the bikers if they would look after her, but I'm afraid I ended up deciding I would miss her too much. Anyway, she's a very good-natured and obedient cat."

"She'd better be," Seto grunted. "Especially on the plane."

"Murr," Oreo grunted right back.

"Doesn't she have a carrier?" Seto asked.

"She detests that sort of thing," Bakura said. "She'll behave much better if she can just sit on my or Yami's lap."

"Whatever." Seto looked to Atem. "Is this everyone you were bringing?"

"They're all here," Atem nodded. "Plus David. . . ."

David waved. "I decided to relinquish command of the Black Crown to our assistant manager so I could come along and keep Dukey-Boy out of trouble."

"Heh." Seto strolled past. "Then it's time to board."

Mokuba hurried over to Marik as they all walked outside to the plane. "Hi, Marik!" he greeted. "This is gonna be some trip, huh?"

"I just hope it will be a safe one," Marik said in concern. "Unfortunately, that's probably quite unlikely."

"We'll do the best we can," Yugi vowed.

"And that is all any of us can do," Ishizu agreed.

The flight was uneventful; most passengers decided to catch up on the sleep they had missed by being woke up and packing all night. Oreo stretched out on Yami Bakura and struck up a motorboat purr.

"Cat," Yami Bakura growled in his sleep.

"Hey, Tristan, cut the motorcycle engine," Joey mumbled. "I'm trying to sleep."

"That's not my motorcycle," Tristan grunted. "It must be Marik's."

"Then cut it out, Marik," Joey slurred.

"It's not mine either," Marik retorted.

Oreo just purred louder.

As it turned out, as their plane landed in New Orleans, so too did the flight the Big Five had taken. Everyone ended up running across each other in the airport.

"Mokuba?!" Lector stared as he saw the boy coming in with his luggage. "What on Earth are you doing here?"

". . . Hi, Lector. Everyone's here," Mokuba said with a grand gesture.

Crump gawked as the large group came in after Mokuba. "Well, isn't that a coincidence."

"Or is it?" Gansley looked to Yugi. "Odd, isn't it, that right after you learn we're coming here, all of you come as well? If it was already planned, you likely would have mentioned it on the telephone last night."

"Um, well . . ." Yugi froze, caught.

"You did implore us to be careful," Lector said. "I thought it seemed a little strange at the time. Did you know more than you were saying?"

". . . I did," Yugi admitted at last. "But this probably isn't a good place to talk about it. . . ."

"Very well," Gansley said. "Then we'll go back to the hotel and discuss it there." He quirked an eyebrow. "Is it possible that we picked the same hotel?" He was only half-sarcastic.

"I booked us at the Tolliver Arms Hotel," Seto said.

Now Lector stared. "So did we. That wasn't a coincidence either, was it, Mr. Kaiba?"

Seto scowled. "Let's talk about it there."

xxxx

The Tolliver Arms was a large and fancy hotel in the heart of downtown New Orleans. Despite the early hour, the city already seemed to be in full swing. People were everywhere—walking to and from destinations, talking on the sidewalk, some playing their music or calmly sketching on street corners.

"Does anybody ever sleep around here?" Joey blinked.

"Probably not," Tristan said. "And especially not during Mardi Gras. There's parades at all hours of the day and night!"

"I hope we get to see one," Serenity said. She studied the hotel as they pulled into the parking lot. "That's kind of a strange coincidence too, isn't it, Duke?" she noted. "The name of the hotel, I mean."

"It's a pretty common name," Duke said, twirling a piece of hair around his finger. "But you're right, Serenity; it does make me think about Snakes. He did operate around here."

The Big Five were waiting in the lobby when they all entered.

"These are some fancy digs," Joey said in approval, studying the red carpets and elaborate chandeliers. "So why did you pick this place?"

"My father owns it," Lector said matter-of-factly.

"Good enough reason," Joey said. "So you get in free or something?"

"Or something," Lector said.

"If he owns it, why isn't it named for him?" Tristan wondered.

"Why don't you see to your reservations and we'll talk about that on our way up?" Gansley said.

Seto was already going to the main desk. All of the others fell into step behind him. The clerk was less than thrilled by the size of the group. "All of these people are with you, Mr. Kaiba?" he blinked.

"That's right," Seto grunted. "Is that a problem?"

"Well . . ." The clerk typed on his computer. "At Mardi Gras, you realize that it's very difficult to get rooms."

"We're early into the Carnival season," Seto replied. "I also realize that it's mainly the last couple of weeks of the season that are extremely busy." He leaned on the desk with one arm, his icy eyes daring the clerk to try to cheat him.

". . . Very true," the clerk finally relented. "Yes, it looks like we do still have rooms for everyone. . . ."

"Good." Seto straightened.

Soon everyone was properly registered with their keys and heading up in the elevator with the Big Five.

"Man, I really thought that stuffed shirt was going to try to back out on your reservations," Joey said to Seto.

"Even though KaibaCorp doesn't have a presence in New Orleans, it's common enough knowledge that I'm not someone to cross," Seto grunted. "I could have made a great deal of trouble for him had he attempted to claim there weren't available rooms after all."

"Why would he do that, anyway?" Téa frowned. "I mean, he'd lose business!"

"He'd do it if he thought he'd make more money by turning us away," Seto said. "He might have received a call for a reservation after I placed ours and felt the second person would pay more."

"That sleaze!" Joey scowled. He looked to Lector. "And your dad would have just let him get away with it?!"

"I don't know." Lector looked away, glowering at the wall. "The hotel is named the Tolliver Arms in honor of a man my great-great-grandfather worked with in New Orleans. After he was killed, my great-great-grandfather took over the business and turned it legitimate. My father was supposed to be keeping up the tradition. He disowned me because I wasn't behaving honestly, so I would assume he still upholds the family values."

Duke, Serenity, and David exchanged a look. "So your honest great-great-grandfather named this place in honor of a man who was dishonest?" David said.

The elevator stopped on one of the higher floors and everyone got out.

"He was grateful," Lector said. "Without that man, my great-great-grandfather might not have had the opportunity to manage a high-ranking business. And it wasn't so cut-and-dry as the man being dishonest. He _was_ engaged in criminal practices, it's true, but he also did a lot of good. He helped a lot of small towns prosper in the Old West. And he would hire anybody, regardless of gender or color, as long as they were willing to work hard. They could achieve high-ranking positions, just like anyone else; my great-great-grandfather was his business partner."

"That must have been pretty unusual back then," Mai remarked.

"It was," Lector nodded.

". . . So just what was this guy's first name?" Duke asked, although he was quite sure he already knew.

"Samuel," Lector said.

Serenity's eyes widened. "Snakes!" she whispered.

Overhearing, Lector raised an eyebrow. "He was called that," he said. "But how did you know?"

"Um . . ." Serenity flushed. "It's kind of a long story. . . ." Somehow it didn't seem the right time or place to inform Lector that his great-great-grandfather's business partner had been revived from the dead and ended up time-traveling to the present-day, where he was currently living in Los Angeles.

"Nevermind that now," Gansley grunted. "I think it's time we learned why all of you have really come here."

They reached the Big Five's Grand Suite and Lector unlocked the door, allowing everyone to troop into the living room. Then he pulled the door shut after them.

Atem came forward. "I should probably explain, since it was because of what I was told that all of this happened. I was visited by the guardian of the Infinity Items, who told me that all of you will be in grave danger here in New Orleans. He wanted you to be protected, and for all of us to band together in stopping a great evil that you will encounter here."

He received five blank stares.

"Say what again?" Crump said.

Lector folded his arms. "That's all well and good that there's such concern, but since we have no connection with the Infinity Items, why would the guardian care what happens to us?"

Atem sighed. "Your ancestors were magic users."

". . . I see," Gansley grunted. "But we are not our ancestors."

"We believe in science, not magic," Nesbitt agreed.

"I don't entirely understand myself what the concern is," Atem admitted, "but Shadi said that if this enemy were to learn about your ancestors, it could be very bad."

"Maybe he'd think that you guys would have the same abilities as your ancestors and he'd try to force it out," Tristan said.

"Or he might believe that you are reincarnations and not descendants and decide to attempt calling forth the souls of your 'past selves,'" Yami Bakura said.

"You keep saying 'he,'" Johnson noted. "Who is this great evil?"

"We're not sure," Atem said. "Apparently he's a corrupt _vodun_ priest."

"So . . . dolls with pins and mojo bags?" Crump blinked.

"Probably," Téa said.

" _Vodun_ is about a lot more than that," Lector said. "And the dolls aren't even supposed to be used to harm people; they're actually for good luck and blessings."

Joey stared. "Well, that's something Hollywood never told us."

"They wouldn't," Lector grunted. "That said, there are corrupt priests who turn everything on its head and do use _vodun_ to hurt people. But what doesn't make sense is what a corrupt priest would have to do with my father. He doesn't believe in _vodun_."

"Good for him," Seto muttered.

"Well, we won't find that out until we go see him," Crump said. "So how about it?"

"Once I freshen up." Lector looked to Atem. "Are all of you planning to come along when we go?"

"I think it would be better if we didn't," Atem said. "I understand it's a delicate situation with your father. However, would you mind if some of us follow you there and wait outside?"

"You are welcome to do as you please," Lector said.

xxxx

The group eventually decided on the Bakuras, Yugi, and Atem following the Big Five to Lector's family's home. The others would spend time sightseeing or researching. Seto wanted to read more on Lector's family, while Mokuba wanted to go with the Ishtars to look around the city. Everyone went their separate ways while promising to stay in touch.

"Oh my," Bakura said in fascination as they drove away from the downtown area and down a road filled with strong trees lining either side. They loomed overhead, the branches of the trees intertwining and creating a canopy bridge over the street.

Oreo meowed and reached out a paw to the closed window.

"No, we are not allowing you to get out and climb one of those trees," Yami Bakura growled. "You'd just get scared and stuck, and guess who would have to climb up after you?"

"Merow," Oreo scowled.

Bakura had to chuckle as he petted her.

"Wow, these homes are all so amazing," Yugi exclaimed, staring at the mansions behind iron gates. "I wonder how old they are."

"Joey would probably wonder if they're all haunted," Bakura said.

"A lot of them probably are," Yami Bakura shrugged.

The Big Five's car pulled up in front of one particular mansion, and after an apparent conversation over the intercom, was allowed through the gates. Yami Bakura pulled up slightly down the road.

"And now we wait," Atem said grimly.

"And hope the neighborhood watch doesn't kick us out," Yami Bakura muttered under his breath.

xxxx

Lector was tense as he led the others up the winding walkway to the porch. "My father doesn't know I'm bringing all of you," he said. "He might not like it."

"Would he be inhospitable?" Gansley asked.

"I suppose that depends on what he wants," Lector said. "I don't know whether he'd be inhospitable or not, but he is certainly capable of it." He rang the doorbell and stepped back.

In a moment a dour-faced butler opened the door. "Mr. Démas," he greeted Lector. "Your father will be so relieved that you've come." He stepped back, holding the door open wide. "Do come in."

"Thank you," Lector replied, and walked through the doorway. The others filed after him, to which the butler's expression did not change one bit.

Crump stared around in awe at the expensive paintings and vases. "This is really some pad," he said.

"It used to be home," Lector said guardedly. "Not much has changed since then. Everything that I recall as being here still is."

Johnson studied the living room as they walked by on their way to wherever the butler was taking them. Fleur de lis designs were on the edges of picture frames, as well as standing loose by themselves on the walls. Other cultural items were scattered on desks and tables, such as miniature French and German flags, and others Johnson didn't recognize.

"What is your heritage, Lector?" he asked, suddenly curious.

"Hey, yeah," Crump said. "I know you said once that you're mixed race Creole, but you didn't explain any more than that."

Lector didn't look surprised by the question. "The family name in its true spelling is German in origin," he said. "When my ancestors first came over from Europe, they were German and French. Somewhere down the line somebody married a Haitian, and I've heard tell that there may be some Native American blood as well."

"Wow. I guess if you guys ever had a family reunion, it'd be a big mish-mash of cultures," Crump said.

"Pretty much." Lector tensed as the butler stopped in front of two double doors and pushed them open. This was the moment of truth. He hadn't seen the man in years. He knew that his father had rejected him and he suspected that he had gotten the rest of the family to do likewise. He had refused to even talk to his son on the phone, preferring to hang up. And now suddenly he was wanted? Why?

As they entered the room, Gansley came up next to him, protectively. The others crowded close around him as well.

"Master Leichter," the butler intoned, "your son Démas." He didn't bother introducing anyone else.

"What are we, chopped liver?" Crump grunted.

The large leather chair at the desk swung around, and everyone but Lector was surprised. His father looked very much like an older version of him, with white hair and beard instead of brown. This man, however, had a stern expression that did not lighten and a monocle aesthetically placed over his left eye. As he stood, he ignored the group and spoke only to Lector.

"Son . . . I'm glad you made it here safely." His voice was similar as well, but deeper.

"Why?" Crump couldn't refrain from snapping back. "You didn't care before, even when he really was in danger of not making it back!"

Lector waved a silencing hand at him. Now wasn't the time. "What is it you want, Father?" he asked, speaking as coolly as his parent. He could tell from the man's face and tone that nothing had changed between them. This wasn't about reconciliation. And even though he had known that was likely, his heart still dropped with disappointment and sorrow.

"I want your help," Mr. Leichter replied. "I got into a little trouble with one of my clients and now they won't leave me alone. I know you've had a great deal of experience with trouble in the business world. I thought you might be able to handle it better than me."

"Seriously? That's bogus!" Crump spat.

Lector didn't wave him off this time. "That is ludicrous, Father. You've been a businessman all your life. I've watched you handle plenty of trouble with your clients."

"Yes, but not like this." Mr. Leichter leaned forward, his eyes filled with desperation. "They're not sane, Son. They're threatening to use their magic to trap us in a life-size video game. They've got your mama and your younger sisters scared to death!"

Gansley narrowed his eyes. "But you don't believe in voodoo."

"Our family does," Mr. Leichter shot back. "And I thought maybe my client had some technology that could really do it. Apparently such things do exist." He gave Lector a cold look.

Lector's heart twisted. "Yes, they do," he said, his voice just as cold.

"So I thought if you talked to this person, maybe you could reason with him," Mr. Leichter said. "And if not, maybe you could prepare us so we'd know how to fight back."

"Every game is different. I wouldn't know how to prepare you without knowing which game they'd chosen." Lector stepped back.

"So you'll just turn your back on your mother, after she gave birth to you? And me, after I raised you to be better than that?"

Gansley's eyes flamed. He had plenty he wanted to say, and he could tell the others felt likewise. But Lector suddenly lost his temper before any of them could speak

"Don't you _dare_ preach to me about turning your back on people!" Lector boomed. "You turned your back on me when I was in a coma, and you got the rest of the family to follow your lead! None of them ever tried to find out about me; I checked. You wouldn't even talk to me when I called you after waking up at last. Most parents would just be overjoyed that their child was awake. You didn't care!" He turned away, clenching a fist. "Part of me would like to walk out this door right now and forget this meeting ever happened."

"Good. Then let's do it," Crump encouraged.

"I can't," Lector said through clenched teeth. "I can't because I _am_ better than that. I don't want my family hurt." He turned back to his father. "So you give me more details and I'll see what I can do."

Mr. Leichter relaxed. "Thank you, Son. I'll tell you everything."

Gansley exchanged a concerned look with the others. Mr. Leichter was clearly manipulating his son's emotions and sense of morality. And Lector, fueled by his own guilt and his longing to be accepted and loved again, was letting it happen.

Nesbitt looked back, his eyes burning. He already hated this man; he felt about him as Lector did about Yami Marik. He was more than ready to punch the guy out right now.

The story behind the trouble sounded bizarre. In addition to the hotel, Mr. Leichter was a supplier to local merchants. Several orders had mysteriously disappeared over the last weeks, and unfortunately, more than one was for a Dr. Raven, a man who ran a voodoo knick-knack shop. He had finally threatened Mr. Leichter with magical recompense, apparently believing his supplier was stealing his own cargo.

"So the problem is two-fold," Mr. Leichter said. "I have to find whoever actually is stealing the shipments, and I have to pacify this madman before he really tries something against us. I'm working round the clock to locate the thief, but I thought you would be a great one to talk to Dr. Raven . . . or to help prepare us for the calamity, whichever the case may be."

Lector looked to the others. This could very well be the corrupt priest they had been warned about, but he didn't know how he could say No and walk out. He couldn't feel right about that. But he also didn't feel right about asking the others to go along with him on this.

Johnson gave him a quiet nod. _It's alright, Lector. Do what you feel you have to and we'll back you up all the way._

Gansley, Nesbitt, and Crump showed similar support. They had known coming in here that this might be dangerous. It didn't deter them.

"Alright," Lector said. "I'll go talk to him now."

Relief filled Mr. Leichter's eyes. "Good." He handed Lector a business card. "Here's his address."

Lector felt a dark chill go into him as he touched the paper. This wasn't going to be good.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Yami Bakura growled when the Big Five's car slowly made its way back down the driveway and out the gate. Somehow he sensed that things weren't right, and he was proven correct when the vehicle pulled up in front of his rental van. As he rolled down the window, Lector did likewise.

"How did it go?" Yugi asked, leaning forward from the middle seat.

"My father doesn't feel any better towards me," Lector said matter-of-factly.

Yugi's shoulders slumped. "I'm really sorry."

"Well, that doesn't matter," Lector said gruffly. "In other news, we've most likely discovered how the _vodun_ priest connects with this mess. He's tormenting my family. My father wants me to talk to him."

"That seems rather odd, doesn't it?" Yami Bakura grunted. "Especially if your father still hates you."

Lector gave a weary sigh. "It does," he admitted, "except that he's threatening to put my family into what sounds like augmented reality. My father felt I would know what to do to prepare them should I be unable to talk sense into the man."

"Oh wow." Yugi looked down. "That's not good."

"Here's his address." Lector held up the business card. "I'll drive there now and you can follow behind me."

Yami Bakura silently memorized the address. "Very well."

"We should also find out if any of the others are sightseeing in that area," Atem said. "They may be able to help."

"I'll call them," Yugi said, getting out his phone.

xxxx

As it turned out, Duke, Serenity, and David were right on the block in question and promised Yugi they would stay there a while longer. When the Big Five pulled up at the knick-knack shop, they were just down the street.

"Excellent timing," Duke smirked. "Especially since now I don't see Yami Bakura's van. They must have got stuck in traffic somewhere."

"So what's the plan?" David wondered. "Are we just observing or are we going in with them?"

"Maybe we should pretend to be tourists and just wander around the shop while trying to keep an eye on them," Serenity suggested.

"Sounds good to me," Duke said.

But all thoughts of that plan were immediately put on hold as the Big Five exited the rental car. They were stepping onto the sidewalk in front of the shop when something caused Lector to look up at the balcony on the second floor.

"Look out!" he yelped. He pushed two of the other four to the ground and jumped down himself. The remaining two, seeing a large, cement pot falling from the balcony, leaped to join their friends. The pot hit the sidewalk near them, shattering into pieces of all sizes.

"Oh my gosh!" Serenity shrieked. She ran over. "Are all of you okay?!"

Lector shakily knelt on the sidewalk, followed by the others. "Yes," he said, "but just barely."

"What on Earth caused that to fall?!" Gansley snarled. "There was no one up there!"

Serenity gulped. "Maybe it was pushed with magic?" she quavered.

David cringed. "As much as I don't want to have to believe something like that, on this case it's probably possible."

The Big Five slowly got up, Gansley leaning heavily on his cane. "Well, let's go inside and see what this Dr. Raven has to say for himself," he said darkly.

Everyone was in complete agreement.

xxxx

Inside, in a back room, Dr. Raven was observing them all through the large green crystal on the top of his staff. "Ah, I see," he sneered, focusing on Lector. "I tried to crush the wrong man. You look so much alike, I thought you were your daddy. Instead, it looks like Daddy tricked you into coming in his place. That's a real loving father you've got there, deliberately setting you up as a scapegoat."

A young girl standing next to him frowned. "What are you going to do?" She shifted nervously, the pink boa-like material around the collar and sleeves of her dress casting strange shadows on the wall courtesy of the crystal's light.

"Well, first let's get the run-down on all of these people who are coming in," Dr. Raven said. His eyes glinted as his crystal showed him images and short scenes for each visitor. "That man there is Démas Leichter . . . oh, pardon me, he spells it Lector. He made his daddy real mad about that too. And his betrayal of his boss made Mr. Leichter even more furious. What's this? He abandoned Démas when he fell into a coma? Disowned him altogether, in fact. And Démas still came to try to help him. That poor fool."

"His father really doesn't care about him?" the girl said sadly.

"I don't know, but he sure doesn't care about playing with his life, and does that sound much like there's any kind of caring going on to you, Angelique?"

She looked down. "No. . . . Not if he really realizes what could happen. . . ."

Dr. Raven was already moving on to the next one. "Robert Nesbitt," he mused. "A research engineer who always preferred machines to people, until he met these four. He's come to love them more deeply than life itself, which still stuns him. And what have we here? He's going through a lot of grief and guilt because somebody mind-controlled him into trying to hurt his friends. Well, isn't that just too bad. Who's next?"

His eyes glinted as the next images started. "Thomas Johnson, a very crooked lawyer. Such a bad boy. But he loves this group too. It seems he thinks he should be the one taking the brunt of the punishments heaped upon them, instead of poor Lector suffering so. And not just that, but he's carrying a heavy guilt for putting down two of his friends in the past and not thinking anything of it at the time. Oh, and they don't know what he said about them? It could really hurt when they learn he called them 'useless' . . . even though he only said it to try to pacify someone who was going to kill them all."

Angelique looked towards the black curtain separating their part of the building from the shop. "Don't you think we should get out there?" she said. "They're probably getting impatient. What if they come back here?"

"Oh, I'm sure they're being kept occupied. We'll be ready in a minute." Dr. Raven looked intently into his crystal. "Charles Gansley, the leader of the group. Very business-oriented; he even looked at his marriage as a business decision. No wonder that didn't last!" he laughed. "But . . . he no longer looks at his friends in that light. He will do anything for them. And he feels he must always be strong for them no matter what happens. He can never break. Oh, but don't you realize, Mr. Gansley, that those are the people who break hardest?"

Images of Crump flashed across the crystal next. "Now this one's a character. Adrian Randolph Crump III. That's a mouthful for you. He's trying to encourage all the others to open up and not keep their pain locked inside. He has better success with some than others. And he loves penguins and pretty, young girls, eh?" A cruel smirk. "He should be a perfect target for you to focus your charms on, Angelique."

Angelique didn't look pleased. "We're going to go after all of these people? But they're not part of this. We have no quarrel with any of them!"

"Mr. Leichter is trying to worm out of this by tricking his poor, disowned son into taking the fall for him," Dr. Raven said. "I intend to take that as far as I can. Maybe then he'll get the message that no one is safe—not his son, not his son's friends, and not him."

The images continued to flash through the crystal. "Duke Devlin. . . . A young businessman who has already suffered deep emotional scars in his life. His mother deserted him and his father was crazy and eventually disowned him before dying. . . . Oh, he blames himself for his best friend's death? My, the things teenagers deal with these days.

"David Tanaka. . . . So he is Mr. Devlin's friend, returned to life. A skittish coward who prefers to stay out of trouble, yet is always willing to get into it to protect his loved ones. How nice to know that there are still noble people in this cold world." Dr. Raven's voice dripped with cruel sarcasm.

"And Serenity Kawai-Wheeler, Mr. Devlin's girlfriend. A very sheltered girl who loves and idolizes her older brother, who is also in the city. She is braver than she believes herself to be and will always step in to help her loved ones when she can.

"Hmm, I wonder how these clean-cut kids ended up with such dark characters as these five men." Dr. Raven's eyes glinted as new images appeared. "Ah, they aren't just random tourists who witnessed my deathtrap. They came here actively hoping to protect Démas and his friends, collectively known as the Big Five. Apparently they have a history with them through a mutual acquaintance, Seto Kaiba. And . . . what's this? There are others?" Every member of the large group flashed across the crystal. "Hmm." His cruel smirk deepened. "We can use all of them to send our message." He stood. "Come, Angelique; we must tend to our guests."

Worried and hesitant, the girl followed him out of the back room and into the shop.

xxxx

Dr. Raven was definitely right that the group had been kept occupied while he researched them. As soon as they entered, Serenity spotted the tiki masks hanging on the wall and went over for a closer look. "Cool!"

Duke had to smirk. "Joey would have exactly the opposite reaction."

"Me, I can't blame him," David said. "Those things are freaky."

Serenity quickly sobered, looking around with worried eyes. "I don't see anyone here. . . ."

"There's gotta be someone here," Crump insisted. "Maybe in the back. . . ." He started towards the curtain, but found himself tripping and falling instead. "What the heck?!" he yelped.

Lector cringed. "What happened?" He came over to make sure Crump was alright.

Crump was kneeling up on the floor by now, shaking the stars from his vision. "I don't know!" he cried. "There wasn't anything there and I still wiped out!"

Gansley came over, tapping the area with his cane. "It's some sort of invisible barrier preventing anyone from going through that curtain to the back room," he realized.

"If they're that serious about keeping people out, I wonder what's really back there," Duke frowned.

"Merely more knick-knacks for your buying pleasure," came a deep, smooth voice. A man carrying a strange staff emerged from behind the curtain, accompanied by a worried young girl with frightened eyes. "I've been having so much trouble with new shipments never reaching me that I wanted some extra protection for what I still have in stock."

"You're Dr. Raven?" Lector asked.

"Indeed," Dr. Raven nodded. "And this is my niece, Angelique."

The girl gave a small curtsy and a wave. "Hello. . . ."

Crump's eyes gleamed. _"Hello."_

Gansley elbowed him in the ribs.

"It's your trouble with your new shipments that we've come to talk with you about," Lector said. "I'm representing my father, who has a business arrangement with you."

"Yes, I know," Dr. Raven said.

"And do you also know that he was nearly killed by a flying cement pot as soon as we arrived?" Nesbitt spat.

"That is most unfortunate," Dr. Raven said. "I am very sorry that such an incident happened on these premises."

"I'll just bet you are," Nesbitt growled.

"Someone has been stealing your shipments from my father before they can ever get to you," Lector said. "He said he's tried to tell you this but he doesn't get a very good reception from you."

"Well, it is hard to believe that someone as successful as your father would have so many problems with his shipping department," Dr. Raven said.

"I would guess there's someone on the inside stealing packages," Lector said.

"Perhaps so, but that doesn't return my stolen items any better than before, does it?" Dr. Raven said.

"If you'll pardon me, Sir, threatening to trap the whole family in a video game will help you?" Lector frowned.

"Maybe it has. Your father sent for you, did he not?" Dr. Raven sneered. "The one member of the family who no longer lives in the area."

"Just what are you getting at?" Lector's eyes narrowed. Everyone else tensed.

"You are an outcast in your own family," Dr. Raven said. "Yet you are foolish enough to heed your father's desperate plea for help and even to involve yourself in a fight that did not concern you in the least?"

"My family may have rejected me, but I still love them," Lector said coolly. "I don't want them to be hurt. I've come to plead for their safety while we try to get to the bottom of this mess about your packages."

"Hmm." Dr. Raven mused. "Well, I suppose I could give you 24 hours."

"Just that?!" Crump yelped.

"I have many people demanding the merchandise that was supposed to come in those packages," Dr. Raven shrugged. "I need to make an example of someone and let them know that if this persists, there will be consequences."

Serenity stepped forward. "But if you hurt them, how will you ever get your merchandise back?"

"Serenity!" Duke hissed. "We don't know what the deal is with this guy yet!"

"The young lady does have a point," Dr. Raven mused. "But I have given Mr. Leichter many chances and he has failed to produce either the merchandise or anyone who could have stolen it. After 24 hours, I will take more drastic measures."

"If that's your final answer, then it will have to do," Lector said coolly. "I'll see what can be done within that amount of time."

"You do that." Dr. Raven looked to the others. "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"I don't think so," Duke said in disgust. "Come on, guys, let's go."

They all trooped out of the shop.

"Does anyone else get the feeling that there's something more going on here besides missing packages?" David said.

"I sure do," Lector said. "But I can't imagine what."

"I'm wondering if he's gonna put a voodoo hex on all of us," Crump gulped.

"I'm sure the danger will be far worse than some nonsense like that," Gansley retorted.

"Honestly, Crump, you're starting to sound like Joseph," Johnson said.

"Well, when it comes to the creepy stuff, maybe he's got a point," Crump scowled. "I tripped on something that wasn't there!"

"It could have been science that made that barrier, not magic," Gansley said. "Although I'll admit we've discovered that some forms of magic are real, such as the Infinity Items."

"Nevermind that now," Duke said. "What are we going to do?"

"All I know to do is go out to my father's warehouses and question the workers," Lector said. "And maybe poke around in case the crates are still there, but hidden."

"We can do that," Duke said.

"That girl seemed rather concerned about something," Johnson mused. "Maybe even reluctant?"

Gansley nodded. "As much as I never thought I'd say this, why don't you try to find out what you can from her, Crump? If she truly doesn't want to be part of a scheme to hurt us or Lector's family, she may open up without too much difficulty."

"I'll be happy to give it my best shot," Crump exclaimed.

Duke silently twirled a piece of hair around his finger. He was sure he would have a better chance at it, but he would rather not do it. He had only flirted with all the girls in school as a facade, and ever since Serenity had appeared on the scene, he had lost interest in that. He didn't want to do anything that could hurt her.

The Bakuras' van pulled up at last, with Yami Bakura looking completely aggravated. He rolled down the window as the group came over. "Did you find anything out?"

"Some," Lector said.

"Not to mention he was almost killed as soon as they showed up," Duke frowned. "But we should probably talk about everything away from here."

"Fine," Yami Bakura grunted.

David picked up a long streamer from the hood of the van. "What happened?"

"Well," Bakura chuckled awkwardly, "we got caught in a sudden parade and had to find a detour." Sobering, he added, "I hope we weren't badly needed here. . . ."

"We had it covered," Duke said. "Let's drive up the street a few blocks and park to talk."

xxxx

Joey, Tristan, Mokuba, and the Ishtars, meanwhile, had gotten caught up in the same parade as it passed by the street where they were exploring.

"Alright!" Joey exclaimed, pumping the air with a fist. "Some action!"

"Now this is what going to New Orleans should be about, not chasing down creepy voodoo priests," Tristan grinned.

Gold coins, stuffed animals, and strings of beads flew through the air, thrown by people on the various floats. People in the crowd leaped to catch them.

"Are the beads all green, purple, and yellow?" Marik blinked.

"Those are the colors of Mardi Gras!" Tristan grinned.

Mokuba ran over to pick up one fallen strand of beads. "No sense leaving without a souvenir!"

"Mokuba, be careful!" Marik exclaimed.

Mokuba snatched the beads, barely missing having his hand trampled on by two other people in the process. As he straightened, somewhat shaken, he locked eyes with a young boy near the curb. The boy stiffened, looking caught.

"Hey!" Mokuba called. "What's wrong?"

The boy abruptly turned, fleeing into the crowd.

Mokuba stood, blinking in confusion. "Well, that was weird. . . ."

"You think that kid was spying on us or something?" Tristan frowned.

"I don't know, but he sure acted funny when I saw him," Mokuba said.

Marik sighed. "There's no way we'll find him now. If he's important, he's sure to turn up again."

"Yeah. . . ." Mokuba looked down, biting his lip. "Would there really be a kid that young mixed up in this? He looked about the same age as me."

"It's possible," Marik said carefully.

"Or maybe we're all just paranoid!" Joey cut in. "The kid could have just felt guilty because he was always told not to stare at people! Come on, let's forget about voodoo priests and weird stuff and just enjoy the parade!"

"Well, you're sure all into it," Tristan commented.

"Yeah, because I haven't seen anything creepy in it!" Joey shot back.

Mokuba laughed a bit. Hopefully Joey was right and there was no need to worry.

xxxx

Seto frowned, leaning back as he stared at the laptop's screen. He had been researching Lector's family and their influence in the city ever since the groups had left the hotel. So far he had learned that Lector's father had the same kind of clout that Seto had back in Domino City, only on a somewhat lower level. Rumor had it that he was looking to change that and had been taking on more and more business deals of late. Some succeeded, but two of the most potentially profitable ones had fallen through, leaving him owing thousands of dollars and being forced to deal with angry stockholders and his board of directors. All of that on top of many of his shipments mysteriously disappearing.

Seto pondered the problem. Would he really stoop to stealing his own shipments, hoping to get the insurance money plus money from selling the contents of the shipments to interested parties on the black market? If so, he had really dug himself into a hole. What had he wanted with Lector? Yugi had called to tell him how Lector's meeting with the man had gone, and it didn't sound promising.

He clicked to another website. This one was an interview Mr. Leichter had had several weeks ago with a reporter named Lana Allisen. One particular section caught his eye and he scrolled down to it. In spite of himself, he was chilled by what he read.

 _ **Lana:**_ _Mr. Leichter, it's common knowledge that your son Démas has been in a coma in Domino City for over a year. He recently came out of it and has been in reportedly excellent physical condition. Has he contacted you at all?_

 _ **Mr. Leichter:**_ _I don't see what that has to do with anything._

 _ **Lana:**_ _Why, people in New Orleans remember him, Sir. And they know it must have been a heavy burden for you to bear, knowing that a member of your family was so gravely ill._

 _ **Mr. Leichter:**_ _Let's get one thing straight. I have no son named Démas._

 _ **Lana:**_ _I know he made mistakes, but you really don't care about him anymore?!_

 _ **Mr. Leichter:**_ _No. He is dead to this family and has been since before he fell into that coma. And he will continue to be dead, no matter what he does._

Seto slumped back. The man was risking bad publicity by announcing of his disowning of his son. Some people might agree with him, but Seto was sure that the majority of the people would find him callous and cruel, especially given Lector's coma and his reviving from it. For the man to feel so hateful that he didn't care if he publicly admitted it, what kind of person was he?

"There's more going on here than meets the eye," Seto growled. "And I doubt any of it is good."

The telephone on the nightstand rang and he snapped it up. "Kaiba."

He was surprised by the timid voice on the other hand. "Mr. Kaiba, my name is Evangeline Leichter."

"Leichter?!" Seto echoed.

"Yes. I . . . I shouldn't be calling you, but I'm afraid my daddy's going to get my brother Démas killed. I need to talk to you."

"I can talk right now, but how do you even know about me?" Seto demanded.

"I'll tell you that when we talk. Come to a diner called Angelique's in twenty minutes." The phone went dead.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

When the rest of the Big Five and Duke's group left for the docks, Crump stayed behind. He lingered around the outside of the voodoo shop, shifting his weight and wondering exactly how to handle this venture. Should he go back in and try to talk to Angelique alone? Should he wait and see if she might come out? It _was_ almost lunchtime; she might go on break.

In a moment the problem was solved when she did indeed walk through the door. She smiled at him and went over. "I thought you might stick around," she said, putting a sultry tone into her voice. "I could tell you were interested."

"Oh yeah," Crump exclaimed. "I thought maybe you'd like to have lunch or something."

"Sure." Angelique stepped closer to him and reached up, touching his cheek. "And then maybe after that . . . who knows."

Crump's heart raced. He loved this. He had always dreamed of a girl actually being interested in him. Still, the cautious accountant part of his brain knew that something wasn't right here. Angelique had been reserved and frightened in the shop. Dr. Raven had probably put her up to this.

"Hey," he said, and reached up to take her hand away. "Just be yourself, though, okay? You don't have to play _femme fatale_ for me. I like it better when girls don't anyway."

Some relief flickered in Angelique's eyes. "Okay." She started up the sidewalk. "We can eat at Angelique's."

Crump walked alongside her. "Your . . . house?"

"My family's restaurant," Angelique explained. "It was named for my great-great-grandmother. So was I." She smiled a bit. "She was a singer who wanted to own her own establishment. She had a lot of adventures. Once she helped the Secret Service out on a weird case."

"Oh yeah?" Crump was intrigued.

Angelique nodded. "All these opera singers were disappearing from the opera house whenever they performed a certain role. The Secret Service had to find out why." She sighed and stared off into the distance as they walked. "I always wanted to have adventures like that. Instead I've ended up working part-time for my uncle, and his ideas of adventures aren't exactly what I had in mind."

"So he does all the hocus-pocus voodoo stuff?" Crump asked.

Angelique looked a bit afraid again. "Yes. . . ."

"What do you do for him?" Crump wondered. "Go find frogs' legs and newts' eyes or whatever he uses in his potions?"

Angelique smirked a bit. "Mostly I run the shop. He's got this older, batty lady who helps him with the spells."

"And you're not gonna tell me what kinds of spells he actually does, huh?" Crump deduced.

Angelique shrugged and looked away. "I don't know a whole lot. I don't really _want_ to know. I'd rather just keep seeing it as a tourist attraction and nothing else."

"Works for me," Crump said. It definitely looked like she knew more than she was saying, but she wasn't about to yield. He would have to get her more at ease and then try again.

"He really believes in it, though," Angelique said.

"I guess a lot of people down here do?" Crump mused.

She nodded. "A lot of my ancestors were from Haiti. They brought their _vodun_ and their superstitions with them when they moved up here."

"Lector's part-Haitian and his father doesn't believe in it," Crump said.

"Mr. Leichter is a man of the logical, cynical present-day," Angelique said. "What does your friend believe?"

". . . You know, I have no idea," Crump realized. "He never mentioned it. It's kind of hard picturing him buying all that stuff about mojo bags and the dolls, though. But he _was_ talking about how Hollywood gives voodoo a bum rap."

"That much I'll give it," Angelique agreed. "It's a very misunderstood religion. But people in the know can acknowledge that without actually believing in _vodun_ themselves."

"So, about your uncle. . . . Is he really just mad about the disappearing packages in the mail, or is there more to it?" Crump persisted. "I mean, the guy seems awfully extreme for just some missing packages."

"He always takes things to heart," Angelique said.

Crump sighed. She wasn't going to be fooled by his attempt to steer things back to Dr. Raven. He had just thought they were getting somewhere.

Sensing Crump's disappointment, Angelique gave a small smile and linked arms with him. He started, looking to her in surprise.

"So," she said, "Dr. Raven looked up a little about you. He said you're kind of a character."

"Yeah, I guess you could say that," Crump said.

"Me, I'm not much of a character at all," Angelique said. "Ever since I graduated high school several years ago, I've just been working towards getting into college."

"Good for you," Crump said. "What are you hoping to do?"

Angelique looked thoughtful. "I'm hoping I'll have figured that out by the time I have enough money. Go into law enforcement, maybe, or the legal profession, since I like the thought of solving mysteries."

"I'd be happy not to have any mysteries more complicated than a long math problem," Crump said.

"And I'm guessing that wouldn't be very complicated for you," Angelique said.

"Not too much," Crump agreed. "Math was always my best subject."

By now they had traveled several blocks. They came to a small diner and Angelique led him through the door. The last thing he was expecting to see was Seto waiting at another table, studying his phone and looking impatient.

"Kaiba?!" Crump exclaimed.

Seto started and looked up. "What are you doing here?" he demanded.

"Having lunch," Crump replied. Smirking, he added, "With a beautiful girl."

Seto grunted and looked to Angelique. "I hope you know what you're getting into by showing him some attention."

"I'll be fine," Angelique answered, her voice soft.

They went past and settled into a corner booth. Annoyed, Seto checked his phone again, then looked out the window. Evangeline was late. Had she really intended to talk to him here, or had it just been a trick to get him out of the hotel? After reading about Lector's father and knowing how none of the other family members had so much as checked on Lector before, he wasn't terribly willing to trust any of them. But he had wanted to give Evangeline the benefit of a doubt, since no one knew more than he that just because one member of a family was a sleazeball, it didn't mean all of them were. Mokuba was worlds apart from Gozaburo, and even from him, but there were always a few people who judged him just on the basis of his last name. It always infuriated Seto.

At last the door opened again and a young woman hurried inside and over to Seto's table. "I'm sorry I'm late," she said breathlessly. "It's always hard to get away without Daddy noticing and asking questions."

Seto grunted and put his phone away. Or he pretended to; while holding it under the table, he turned on its recording feature. He wanted a copy of this conversation. "Alright. Now tell me how you knew to come to me."

"After Démas and his friends left the house, Daddy did some checking and found out about the huge group that registered at the hotel today. He knew that you were Démas's former boss, so he figured out that you're all here together and I took a chance on calling you." Evangeline slid into a chair across from Seto.

"You say you're worried he's going to get your brother killed," Seto said. "You honestly think he's capable of that?"

Evangeline looked down at the table. "Before he sent the telegram to Démas, he called us all for a family meeting. He told about the danger we're in from Dr. Raven and said that he felt the only solution left was to call Démas. He thought maybe Démas could pacify Dr. Raven, or at the very least, help us if we got put in a life-size video game."

"Why did he think your brother would have any effect on that lunatic?" Seto asked. "Why would he?"

Evangeline started fumbling with her purse. "H-He said it was because Démas is a good businessman and he's been involved with a lot of shady people and . . . even become one himself. . . . He thought

Démas might relate better to Dr. Raven than he could, and vice versa. Mama accused him of just trying to get Dr. Raven to turn his attention to somebody else and put Démas in danger instead of the rest of us. And he said . . ." She choked on a sob and had to pause to get herself under control before continuing. "He said Démas isn't our son and brother anymore and it didn't matter if that happened!" She covered her mouth with her hand and started to cry.

Seto stared at her. "You don't think he was just speaking out of desperation and anger and he didn't really mean it?"

"I don't know!" Evangeline wailed. "I wanted to believe that. But then he sent the telegram and Démas came. . . . I wasn't allowed to see him; I was locked in my room. But my room's right above Daddy's study and I could hear through the heat vent. He didn't tell Démas everything. When he lied, I . . . I was really afraid again that he meant what he said and he's deliberately set Démas up as a target!"

"How did he lie?" Seto demanded. "What was it he left out?"

"He owns the building where Dr. Raven has his shop," Evangeline explained. "He's been threatening to evict Dr. Raven for a long time, saying he's been scaring people away because the _vodun_ he practices isn't just harmless parlor tricks."

"I'd probably want to evict him myself," Seto grunted. "But so Dr. Raven thinks the packages are being stolen by your father to force his hand?"

"Exactly," Evangeline nodded. "And I can't honestly say whether he's right or not."

"In any case, by leaving key information out, he made Lector believe he's the victim instead of part of the problem," Seto mused. "He wanted to make himself look as sympathetic as possible, maybe because he didn't trust that Lector would agree to help if he didn't."

"I'm afraid so," Evangeline agreed. She leaned forward. "Oh, Mr. Kaiba, isn't there anything we can do?!"

"I can call Lector and try to arrange a meeting with the two of you," Seto said. "You should tell these things to him. Right now he's investigating down at your father's warehouses on the docks." He paused. "But I should tell you, before that he went to talk to Dr. Raven, and Dr. Raven didn't mention anything about the eviction either."

Evangeline went sheet-white. "Oh no," she whispered. "Maybe he's also afraid Démas will leave if he realizes he was deceived, and he doesn't want that because he wants to use Démas as an example."

"I'm calling him right now." Still leaving the recording app running, Seto dialed Lector's phone number and silently prayed for an answer. Instead, the phone didn't even start ringing. Seto pulled it back from his ear, staring at it.

"There's no signal?" Evangeline said in distress.

"No." Seto shook the phone and tried dialing again.

"Mine doesn't have one either." Evangeline took hers out and looked at it. "What are we going to do?!"

"The only thing we can do is to go out there and talk to him in person," Seto said, getting up from the table.

Evangeline nodded. "I'll take you there."

It was only as Seto started walking that he began to feel seriously dizzy. He stumbled, holding a hand to his head. "What . . ."

Evangeline turned to look, her eyes wide. It sounded like she was trying to ask what was wrong, but her voice sounded impossibly far away. She reached out for Seto, but he fell backwards to the floor, unable to stand any longer.

The last thing he remembered before passing out was a bizarre woman with curly hair who came out of a back room, cackling and cackling.

xxxx

Crump had still been trying and failing to get Angelique to open up to him about Dr. Raven's plans when Evangeline's screaming brought his attention up. "What's going on over there?!" He got out of the booth, starting over to a very disoriented Seto. "Kaiba, what's wrong with you?"

When Seto collapsed and the crazy woman came out, Crump just stood and gawked. "Who are you?" he demanded. He looked around for Angelique and Evangeline, but they had somehow vanished. "What's going on?!"

The woman leered at him. "You want to know, Adrian Randolph?"

"Hey, how do you know my name?" Crump snapped.

Instead of responding, she blew a strange, unscented powder right at his face. He gasped, dizziness overwhelming him. He crashed to the floor next to Seto.

The woman giggled, coming out from around the counter to lumber over to them. As she did, Dr. Raven also appeared, tightly clutching Angelique and Evangeline by the wrists.

"So, you two tried to escape and call for help, did you?" Dr. Raven growled.

Angelique struggled against him. "Uncle, please! Don't do this!" she screamed.

Evangeline was furious. "You let me go!" she yelled, desperately kicking at Dr. Raven. "And leave those people and my brother alone!"

Dr. Raven only held on tighter. "You've got spunk, girl. But while I appreciate that, don't think it will save you or any of these poor fools."

He looked to the woman. "We're putting Mr. Crump and Mr. Kaiba in the back. Make sure that they don't have a way to escape. And make sure the thermostat is set as low as possible."

The woman nodded with a wild, sadistic grin. "It will be done."

"And what are you going to do with us, Uncle?" Angelique spat.

"Evangeline is going to come with me," Dr. Raven said. "As for you, I'll give you one more chance to obey me. You know this restaurant and I are all you've got, and it wouldn't take much to burn this old building to the ground. Then you'd be forced to work for me full-time, and you don't want that, now, do you?"

Angelique gave him an angry yet fearful look. "What do you want me to do?"

He nodded to where the woman had taken hold of Crump's wrists and was dragging him across the floor. "Don't try to let them out. And when someone shows up looking for them, as someone no doubt will . . ." He leaned down and whispered in her ear. "Poison that person."

Angelique's eyes widened, stricken.

Evangeline cried out in outrage. "You're insane! All of this to get at my father?! How many people are you going to hurt or kill before this is all over?!"

"As many as I have to." Laughing, Dr. Raven threw Angelique to the floor and dragged Evangeline out the side door into an alley.

xxxx

Mai had decided that she and Téa needed a girls' shopping day, especially in a city like New Orleans, so they had been traveling to several little boutiques and shops. Téa, however, was having a hard time not thinking about the case, and Mai had to admit, she had been pondering too, especially after the last call from Yugi.

"You know, Téa," she mused, "I still can't buy that this Dr. Raven guy is so bent out of shape just over some missing crates. I think we should try to find out what was in those crates."

Téa's eyes widened. "You mean, maybe it was more than just voodoo knick-knacks."

"Exactly," Mai nodded. "He could be a smuggler of some kind. Or . . . well, if you want to believe that voodoo is real, maybe one of the 'knick-knacks' is some magical item that he wants his hands on."

Téa cringed. "Oh gosh, that might be exactly it!"

"That could definitely be more than enough to set him off and make him come after Mr. Leichter like he is," Mai said. "How about we go down to the docks and see what's happening there? Maybe we can give the boys a tip." She winked.

"Let's do that," Téa declared, quickly hanging up the flowered skirt she had been looking at.

xxxx

Lector and Duke had been having similar thoughts. Their exploration of the docks had so far been largely unsuccessful. The workers were willing to talk to Lector, but had no knowledge of what had happened to the packages (they said) and were certain that none of them had taken any (they said). They were also insistent that Mr. Leichter would never have ordered them to do so. Lector wanted to believe them, but amid all the chaos and him still smarting from past betrayals, it was difficult.

While he had been talking to the workers, the Big Three and the kids had spread out, searching all the warehouses for anything strange or suspicious. That was also going nowhere.

"I don't know what's left to try," Duke said in frustration as he twirled a piece of hair around his finger. "We couldn't find anything that wasn't supposed to be there."

"Well, there was that one weird crate on the balcony that we couldn't get to," Serenity said slowly.

Lector looked to her. "Why couldn't you get to it?"

"Some workers came in right then and started moving stuff right under the stairs," Duke said in frustration.

"We can get to it later," Gansley said. "Meanwhile, Crump has been gone a long time and he hasn't even checked in."

"Is that really unusual, considering he was trying to get a date?" Johnson smirked a bit.

Gansley shot him a Look. "He's only rarely succeeded before. Something may have gone wrong." He took out his phone and dialed. ". . . He's not answering."

Fear crossed Johnson's face. "Maybe we'd better get back."

"Maybe we had," Gansley shot back. "But if they're not at the shop or the suite, we won't even know where to look!"

"Oh no," Serenity gasped.

Duke's phone rang and he answered. "Yeah?"

"Duke!" It was Mokuba. "Do you know where Seto is?! We came back to the hotel and he's not here and he's not answering the phone!"

Duke stiffened. "I don't know. Crump's not answering either. He was going to try to get Dr. Raven's niece to open up about what's going on."

"What are we going to do?!" Mokuba cried. "Seto called and said he was meeting Lector's sister at some diner, but when I called the diner, they said he'd left over an hour ago!"

"We're coming back to town," Duke said. "All I know to do is to go back to the knick-knack shop and try to find that girl. I don't know what to do about Kaiba, though. Maybe we need to find Lector's sister and see what they talked about."

Lector looked over with a jerk. "What's that about my sister?!"

Duke took the phone away from his ear. "She went to see Kaiba about something."

Lector frowned. "I wonder why he didn't call me about that."

"Well, he told Mokuba," Duke said, "but now no one has any idea where he is!" Getting back on the phone, he said, "We'll be back soon, Mokuba. Just stay strong."

"I'll try," Mokuba said quietly. "Maybe I can try tracking Seto's location through his phone. . . ."

"It's worth a shot," Duke said. He hung up, looking overwhelmed. "Oh man. What's going to go wrong next?"

"I wonder which sister contacted Mr. Kaiba," Lector said, "and if she's alright."

"We'll be sure to find that out," Gansley assured him.

"She probably went to talk to Mr. Kaiba without my father knowing about it," Lector said. "I doubt he would have let her go."

Worry filled his eyes as they got back into their respective vehicles and drove away from the docks. Crump might be hurt, and Seto, and who knew about his sister. . . .

 _What have I gotten everyone into, coming down here?_

"Lector?"

He looked over as Nesbitt spoke. "What is it?"

"Are you alright?"

Lector sighed. Nesbitt didn't usually instigate such conversations. In fact, he wasn't sure he ever remembered him doing so before. Maybe he was trying to fill in for Crump. Or to reach out to Lector after Lector had been concerned about him many a time since Yami Marik had mind-controlled him several weeks ago. In any case, Lector was sure he was genuinely concerned.

"I don't know," he said at last. "But it's Crump we should really be worrying about. I don't know if my sister is alright either. Or Mr. Kaiba. . . ." He passed a hand over his forehead. How strange it was, to be worried about Seto. . . .

"I shouldn't have encouraged Crump to try to talk to that girl," Gansley muttered.

"I'm sure he would have come up with the idea on his own," Johnson remarked. "Anyway, it was a logical course of action to take. And maybe Crump is just fine. Maybe he was just too occupied to answer the phone."

"And Mr. Kaiba was too, I suppose," Lector grunted.

"Well, who knows." Johnson shrugged.

Lector sighed. "I shouldn't have come here. I've plunged everybody into who knows what."

"We all made our own decisions to come with you," Gansley said. "It's not your fault. Naturally you felt you needed to see what was going on when your father suddenly contacted you again."

"He just wanted me to fix his mess," Lector muttered. "I'm still disowned, but he can call on me whenever he feels like it. I just can't do likewise."

Gansley hesitated, then laid a hand on Lector's shoulder. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I know you were hoping for a reconciliation."

"I'm a fool," Lector said.

"No," Gansley said. "You're a son who wanted his father back."

Lector closed his eyes and nodded in agreement. "Yes, I did."

"Well . . . you'll probably never have that, unfortunately. But we will never do to you what he did."

Lector opened his eyes again. Gansley, Nesbitt, and Johnson were all looking at him with sincerity. _His friends . . . his family. . . ._

"I know," Lector said. But he felt his voice choke up. "I know. . . ." And he steeled himself in determination. "Let's go find Crump and my sister and Mr. Kaiba."

"Let's," Gansley agreed.

xxxx

It was the cold against his cheek that finally revived him. He grunted, slowly opening his eyes. The cold wasn't just against his cheek; it was everywhere. Shakily he pushed himself to his knees. "Oh brother. . . . Wow, that voodoo powder really knocked me for a loop. . . ."

He soon caught sight of a blue coat and brown hair. "What? Kaiba? . . . Oh, that's right." He frowned. "You went down first and I went to see what happened. Who'd have thought, huh?" He reached over, shaking Seto on the shoulder. "Hey! Wake up!"

At first there was no response. But then Seto jerked, his eyes snapping open. "Crump?!" He rolled over and sat up immediately. "What's going on?!" A hand went to his head as he stared at their new surroundings.

"Well, as you can see, we've got a little problem here." Crump got up and walked over to the door. As he had really known, it was locked.

"A little problem?!" Seto boomed. "We've been locked in a freezer!"

"And it . . . uh, it gets worse," Crump said. "The temperature's been set as low as it goes. And our phones aren't getting a signal. Or mine isn't." He took it out and stared at the lack of bars.

Seto growled, but examined his as well. "At least they didn't find the recording I made," he remarked. "Maybe that will serve to convict our enemies." He looked to Crump with dark and angry eyes. "You know about the cold. How long have we got?"

"All things considered, I would say we can expect the onset of hypothermia within one to two hours," Crump replied. "By four hours we'll likely go into stage 3, and I doubt we'll last much past six hours."

Seto got up with a jerk. "We have to get out of here!" he cried. "I can't die like this! What will happen to Mokuba?!"

"Hey, hey, calm down," Crump said. "We'll get out. Somehow." He looked around. There was absolutely nothing they could use to ram the door. And while there was a grate up near the ceiling, there was no way to reach it. Not to mention Crump wasn't sure it was big enough for even Seto to get through. He knew he wouldn't.

"I told Mokuba I was coming here, but I doubt the staff will let him find us," Seto said. "They probably lied and said I'd left if he called."

"And I didn't get anybody called about me being here," Crump realized in chagrin. "And what happened to those girls? They're not here."

"They're probably being held somewhere else," Seto said. "There's no way they would be allowed to go free."

"Well . . ." Crump sighed. "There's not much we can do except hope someone will find us and try to conserve the heat as best as we can."

Seto scowled. "Then we'd better be found quickly, because there's no way I'm cuddling up with you to stay warm longer."

Crump smirked. "Don't think I don't feel the same. There are very few guys I'm willing to cozy up with, and even then, it would only happen as a last resort in a case like this."

Seto grunted. "I suppose your favorite friends all feel the same."

"Pretty much," Crump said. "Although Nesbitt doesn't like cozying up to guys _or_ girls. But he'd be happy to hug a submarine."

"Heh," said Seto.

Crump quickly sobered. "There's one other thing to keep in mind: since we were both knocked out, some of our time is already gone. And who can say how much?"

Seto's expression darkened. "It'll still be enough," he vowed. "I'm not dying in here."

"I sure don't want to either," Crump said.

But would they have a choice?


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

The first stop the Big Four made was to the Leichter manor again. Lector was desperately hoping his sister—whichever one had talked to Seto—was safely home, and not in the grasp of Dr. Raven. He hurried up the walkway and to the porch, where he frantically rang the doorbell.

The butler soon opened it. "Mr. Démas," he greeted.

"Did either of my sisters go out?" Lector demanded. The two younger girls still lived at home, while his older and married sister lived nearby. Between Marie and Evangeline, Lector wasn't sure who was the most likely to have sought Seto out. He wasn't sure of anything involving his family anymore.

"I didn't see either of them leave," the butler intoned, "but Miss Evangeline came in just a few minutes ago. She's in your father's study."

"Thank you," Lector said hurriedly. He walked briskly down the hall, his three friends trailing after him. Just as before, the butler didn't acknowledge any of them, nor to inquire as to why one of them wasn't present.

The study door was half-open when they arrived. Hearing them coming, Evangeline turned and pushed it open the rest of the way. "Démas!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around Lector with joy. "I'm so happy to see you! Father said you were coming, but I didn't know if he was going to let me see you."

Somewhat stunned, Lector slowly returned the hug. "Hello, Evangeline. . . . Did you leave the house today to talk to Seto Kaiba?" he asked.

She blinked. "Your ex-boss? Why would I talk to him?"

Sitting at his desk, Mr. Leichter's brows furrowed in concern.

"I don't know," Lector said. "He told his brother that he was going to talk to one of my sisters. Was it Marie?"

Evangeline shrugged. "I guess it must have been. Are you staying, Démas? I wish you'd stay! Daddy wouldn't ever let us check on you or write you or call you. I tried a few times, but I always got caught."

Lector looked down at her, a slight smile creeping over his features. So he hadn't been completely abandoned and forgotten by all of his family. Evangeline had always been the most forgiving.

"I can't stay," he said. "One of my friends is missing and I have to find him. Seto Kaiba is missing as well, and I wasn't sure if the sister he talked to was alright."

"Well, Marie's upstairs," Evangeline said. "I'll go get her." She bounded from the room.

Mr. Leichter let out a long and upset breath. "Evangeline _was_ out of the house," he said.

"So I heard," Lector frowned. "But that doesn't mean she was the one with Mr. Kaiba. Why wouldn't she tell me if she was?"

Mr. Leichter despondently shook his head. "He did something to her," he said.

"You mean Dr. Raven?" Gansley spoke up.

Mr. Leichter barely glanced his way. "Yes," he said. "He must have. He erased all her memories of what happened when she went out, either because he didn't want her talking or because he wanted to demonstrate what he's capable of doing."

"How do you know this?" Johnson asked, folding his arms.

"She came back with this clutched in her right hand." Mr. Leichter held up a gold coin.

"A doubloon?" Lector frowned. "Maybe she just slipped out to the parade that's going on in town."

"She didn't," Mr. Leichter insisted with a growl. "This is a very special type of doubloon that's only sold at Dr. Raven's knick-knack shop." He came around the desk to allow Lector a closer look.

Lector took the coin, turning it over in his hand. One side was embossed with a raven. The other featured a skull.

Nesbitt's eyes flickered. Crump would have definitely had a comment to make about that design . . . if he were only there.

Lector looked back to his father. "So you're saying Dr. Raven left this as a calling card?"

"Yes!" Mr. Leichter nodded emphatically. "He's mocking and taunting me!"

"And he gave Evangeline some kind of potion so she would forget?" Lector frowned deeply, infuriated.

"I don't know what he gave her," Mr. Leichter retorted, "but it's definitely made her forget. Démas, this has to be solved right away, before anything else can go wrong! I don't want your mother or your brothers or sisters hurt!"

Pain and hurt swept through Lector's eyes. "What about me, Father?" he asked. "Don't you care whether I'm hurt as well?"

Mr. Leichter stiffened, caught. ". . . Well, of course I do," he sputtered at last. "But I mean, your sister has already been in danger!"

"Dr. Raven tried to crush Lector when we first arrived!" Nesbitt spat, unable to hold it in any longer. "He's already in danger as well!"

Mr. Leichter cleared his throat. "Yes, well . . . that's what you can expect around here." He crossed back to his desk.

"Just hold on for one moment." Gansley's eyes burned as he held the cane diagonally across Mr. Leichter's path. "Your son could have been killed and that's all you have to say?! The difference between how you're treating him and his sister is mind-boggling."

"His sister didn't disgrace the family," Mr. Leichter coolly replied. "She's proud of the family name just the way it is, and she won't change the spelling. Nor will she dabble in crooked business practices. You'd never catch her trying to put somebody in a video game."

Now guilt joined the other emotions in Lector's eyes. "I regret what I did to Mr. Kaiba and his friends. But the fact that I changed the spelling of the family name so it would be absolutely clear how to pronounce it is not a crime."

"It is to me," Mr. Leichter retorted. "Although the rest is the worst."

"You really don't believe people can change, do you?" Nesbitt snapped.

"Even if they do, the damage to the family has already been done," Mr. Leichter shot back.

Lector was barely controlling his temper by this point. "Family should stand by their loved ones and try to encourage them to be better," he said. "You don't abandon them when they need you most!" He turned, not even wanting to hear what his father would say to that. "I'm leaving as soon as I've talked to Marie. I have a missing friend to find. And a missing ex-boss. Good day, Father." He all but stormed out of the room.

The other three gave Mr. Leichter equally dark and repulsed looks.

"You've got a lot of nerve, tricking him into coming out here," Nesbitt growled.

"If anything happens to him because of this Dr. Raven, you _will_ be partially responsible," Johnson added.

"And none of us will forget that," Gansley said.

"Rotten, no-good, crooked businessmen," Mr. Leichter snapped back at them. "Get out of here!"

"Gladly," Gansley growled.

xxxx

Mai and Téa were en route to the docks when their phones came alive. Téa answered hers and was soon having a conversation that alarmed her to no end.

"Kaiba's missing?!" she cried in horror as she talked with Yugi.

"That's right," Yugi said. "Everyone's spread out looking for him and Crump. He's missing too."

"Mai and I were on our ways to the docks," Téa said slowly. "It sounds like we'd better postpone that for now. . . ."

"Duke's group and the Big Four already left the docks," Yugi said. "They didn't have much luck there."

"Mai and I were thinking that we need to find out what was really in those missing crates," Téa said. "Maybe it wasn't just voodoo knick-knacks."

"That's a really good point," Yugi said.

In the background, Atem added, "Not to mention that we're forgetting crates are missing from other businesses as well. It could be a red herring, meant to confuse us and make it look less like Mr. Leichter is responsible just to get at Dr. Raven. On the other hand, it could be a vital clue."

"Another good point," Mai mused, hearing the conversation.

"We'll look into this as soon as we find Kaiba and Crump," Téa decided. "That has to be top priority."

"Good deal," Yugi said. "Okay, we'll see you soon! And them too . . . I hope. . . ." He hung up.

Téa slumped back as she hung up her phone. "This is awful," she said. "What could have happened to them?"

"Hopefully nothing," Mai said. Sighing, she added, "But it could be everything."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Téa whispered.

xxxx

Duke's group and Yami Bakura's group had met and opted to go to the knick-knack shop. Dr. Raven himself was behind the counter when they walked in.

"Good afternoon," he purred. "Have you come back for a little browsing? Perhaps the purchase of one of the tiki masks the young lady was interested in."

Serenity blinked. "But how did you know . . ." She shook her head. "No, that's not why we're here."

"We're looking for the girl you had working for you," Duke said.

"Angelique," David added.

"She isn't here," Dr. Raven replied. "She only works for me part-time."

Yami Bakura frowned. "Don't you have an address on her?"

"Of course." Dr. Raven took a notepad and scribbled a few lines. "But she may not be home."

Duke took the piece of paper. "Where would she be if she's not home?"

"I really couldn't say," Dr. Raven shrugged. "I'm her uncle, not her keeper." He looked to Yami Bakura and Atem—or more specifically, to their Infinity Items. "Those are fascinating objects, gentlemen. They look very old. Might I ask where you acquired them?"

Yami Bakura sneered. "You might ask," he said, "but that does not mean you'll get an answer."

"Yami," Bakura whispered.

Atem just looked back at Dr. Raven, completely calm and unconcerned. "Let's just say we received them from an expert in antiquities."

"Ah, I see," Dr. Raven nodded. "Are they merely for decoration? They're awfully large for jewelry." He looked from the Ring to the Puzzle. "And I see that each one bears the infinity symbol."

"They're part of a set," Yami Bakura said. "We have . . . eclectic tastes." He smirked.

Oreo, who was in Bakura's arms and looking over his shoulder, suddenly focused on one of the tiki masks and hissed.

Bakura jumped. "Oh, that's nothing to be afraid of," he tried to soothe the cat. "It's just a mask. . . ."

Oreo yowled.

Dr. Raven stared at the cat. "That animal had best not make a mess of my shop," he scolded.

"She won't," Bakura insisted. "But I'd better take her out of here. . . . I'm terribly sorry."

Dr. Raven smirked a bit. "The masks are frightening to many humans, but this is the first time I've seen an animal show such fear."

"Perhaps she isn't afraid of the mask," Yami Bakura said. "Perhaps she fears something else. An evil essence, maybe?"

"Hmm. Maybe," Dr. Raven smiled. "I don't know where each mask originally came from. It's possible one of them carries such an essence." He watched the group as they headed for the door. "Good luck with Angelique!"

"Thank you," Yugi called with a wave.

He let out a sigh of relief when they left the shop. "Wow, I don't blame Oreo. There was something wrong in there. That mask felt . . . evil." He shuddered. "I'm glad Joey wasn't with us."

Bakura petted the cat, who was settling down now that they were on the sidewalk. "Well, so now what?" he wondered. "Should we all call on Angelique and go from there?"

"Might as well," Duke shrugged. "If she's not home and no one around there knows anything, maybe Mokuba or someone can start trying to find out more about her so we can track down some of her other favorite spots."

"We don't even know her last name," Bakura realized. "I suppose offhand I thought it was Raven, but is that really an actual surname?"

"It can be," David said. "I don't know, though; I guess I was subconsciously thinking that 'Dr. Raven' was probably some kind of mystical stage name."

"Let's go check out her place," Duke said. "Her neighbors might know something about her. They should be able to tell us her last name, at least."

They hurried to their vehicles.

xxxx

Seto paced the freezer, gritting his teeth against the cold. He couldn't say how long he and Crump had been trapped, but he had the bad feeling that the man was right about the hypothermia starting to set in. By now, Seto felt far worse than just mildly cold.

His phone was also feeling the effects. Within minutes of waking up, Seto had found that the device's battery was almost completely drained. He had turned it off and put it inside his coat, hoping the cold wouldn't break it completely. He needed that recording he had made of his conversation with Evangeline.

Crump seemed to be handling the cold a bit better than Seto was—probably a combination of his love of frigid temperatures and having more protection against the chill from his heavier body weight. But by now he was starting to wind down somewhat as well.

"And to think, I thought there wouldn't be any normal winter dangers by coming to New Orleans in January," Seto muttered with dripping sarcasm.

"Who would?" Crump countered.

Seto turned his attention to the grate high above them. "I'm going to try to get up there," he announced. "It's our only chance. We can't sit around waiting to be rescued!"

Crump stared at it. "And just how do you think you're gonna make it up there?" he countered. "If there were any tables or shelves in here, they took them out, probably just to keep us from trying that very thing!"

"There's one way we can try," Seto responded. "Go stand under it and I'll climb on your shoulders."

"Are you nuts?!" Crump exclaimed.

"Do you _want_ to be found frozen solid tomorrow?" Seto shot back. "Even you won't last very long in here." He shivered. "And the more hypothermia sets in, the more we're going to lose the ability to be rational. We need to try something while we're still aware enough to think straight."

Crump heaved a sigh. "Okay." He crossed the freezer and stood under the grate, placing his hands on the wall for extra support.

It was awkward for both of them when Seto started to climb. "Hey!" Crump gasped when Seto accidentally kicked him. "Watch it!"

"Hold still!" Seto snapped.

"You try having someone use you for a tree and see how easy it is not to move," Crump retorted.

Finally Seto made it to Crump's shoulders. He strained, desperate to grasp the grate. It was still out of his reach. "If I could just get a little higher," he growled.

"Well, you can't," Crump said.

Seto responded by trying to put one foot on Crump's head and pulling himself up high enough to grasp the grate.

" _Hey!"_ Crump yelped. He wobbled and reached up, grabbing at Seto's leg. "Are you trying to crack my skull? Get down!"

Seto snatched the grate in desperation, pushing his fingers through the slat. "Okay, then grab both of my legs and push me up!" he ordered. "I've almost got it!"

Crump was definitely more agreeable to that. He wrapped his hands around Seto's ankles and pushed him upward. "Have you got it?"

"Yeah." Seto rattled the grate in desperate frustration. "But it's rusted on. I don't think I could fit through the shaft anyway."

"At least you could try calling for help or something," Crump suggested. "If the place is still open for business, maybe someone will hear you!"

"I doubt it," Seto scowled. But it _did_ seem to be the only thing left to try. ". . . Help!" he yelled, feeling ridiculous even as he did so.

"We're locked in the freezer!" Crump bellowed. "Get us out!"

They yelled for several minutes with no response. Finally Crump wobbled again. "I've gotta set you down," he said. "This isn't working and my arms are numb!"

"Fine," Seto conceded.

Crump set him on the floor and rubbed at his arms. "We'll have to keep moving," he said. "It'll hold the cold off longer."

"I know that much," Seto said.

They walked around the freezer, back and forth, up and down, side to side, diagonally, every way they could think of. But it wasn't an indefinite help. Seto raised a trembling hand to his forehead. He was much colder now, and his thoughts were freezing up as well as his body.

 _Where am I? . . . I'm in a walk-in freezer. I have to remember that. I'm not outside . . . I'm not even in Domino City. I'm in New Orleans, in a diner, in the freezer._

 _Where's Mokuba? . . . He's not here, is he? . . . No, he's safe. I have to get back to him. . . . I have to focus on that. Getting back to Mokuba is the only thing that matters._

For some time he managed to force himself to keep some semblance of awareness even as the confusion clawed at him. He kept walking, struggling to move, to think. . . .

Mostly he and Crump stayed silent. They certainly weren't close and they didn't have a great deal to talk about. At the moment, each seemed caught up in his own way of struggling to focus. Although Crump still seemed to be a little more active than Seto felt right now, it was obvious all the more that he was wearing down.

"You've gotta be careful as the hypothermia sets in more that you don't start doing crazy things like paradoxical undressing," Crump said after a while. "Of course, if you actually get to that point, you're pretty much beyond thinking."

"If I try to do that, you have my permission to stop me in any way possible short of actually killing me," Seto said flatly.

Crump smirked a bit. "Always the modest one, eh?"

"I'm not an exhibitionist." Seto absently ran a hand over a place on his arm where there was a scar. He had never shown those to anyone. If anyone was going to see them, he hardly wanted it to be Crump.

"Lector's the same way. Oh, not that any of them aren't, but Lector especially, you'd never find him stripping down in a locker room with a bunch of other guys."

"I wouldn't think so." Seto stared off at the wall.

"If you catch him undressed, it's an accident. You know, that did happen once. . . . I saw he had a long scar across his right upper arm, but I was too occupied with talking to him about what I went there to talk to him about to think about the scar right then. I wonder how he got it. . . ."

Suddenly it occurred to Seto that Crump's reaction to the cold was to start rambling. Either that or he was rambling just to hear himself talk and try to keep himself sane. Or, Seto supposed, even to try to keep him occupied by engaging him in a conversation.

"Well, if it's suddenly a matter of such great interest, you can ask him about it when we get out of here," Seto said flatly.

"Yeah, I guess. Lector's a real private person. They all are, though. Me too."

"Really," Seto said with dripping sarcasm.

"It takes a lot to draw them out," Crump said. "We've all got a lot of pride. That's always the thing, the men aren't supposed to be emotional or open up because it's just not manly. But bottling up a lot of pain isn't good for men any more than it is for women. I bet you bottle up a ton of stuff, don't you?"

Seto grunted.

"All of your technology and winning and all that stuff, that's your coping mechanism, right? Like penguins are for me."

Seto really stopped to think about it. It was, he supposed. Still, that was a strange revelation about Crump. "Penguins are a coping mechanism?"

"Yeah, against absentee parents that always argue when they bother being around. And other things that have gone wrong through the years. When I've had a really crummy day, I just pop in a tape about penguins and everything starts to look better."

Seto considered that and slowly nodded. A good duel always made him feel better. Or working on a new technology product.

"Of course, the best remedy for a crummy day above everything else is . . . well, I know it's gonna sound corny and cheesy, but what I like best is just hanging out with the other guys. I never knew what a family could be like until I met them and we started getting close." Crump stopped walking around and just stood smiling a bit. "Yeah. . . . That's the best thing."

Seto's eyes flickered. Being with Mokuba was definitely the best thing for him. As much as he loved his technology and his duels and KaibaCorp, it was all meaningless without Mokuba.

"Let me tell you, you know you love somebody when you're with them all day working and you still want to be with them when you're not working. Or in a bizarre situation like we were for over a year, stuck as wandering spirits, no sleep, no rest, just constantly together, and to not come out of it completely hating each other's guts. Heck, we're still together every day. . . ." Crump trailed off. He was wavering a bit now, actually looking rather helpless and lost. He was afraid he wouldn't get back to them.

"We're going to get out of this," Seto insisted. "Don't ever think we're not."

". . . Yeah." Crump started walking again. "Yeah, of course we are."

Seto resumed walking as well. The conversation thread had seemed to reach its end. He could start another, but he didn't really want to. Although it _had_ kept him occupied. Without Crump's constant rambling in his ear, about all he could hear were the sounds of the freezer's motor . . . their shoes pacing the floor . . . their ragged breaths. . . . Over and over, like some off-the-wall tune.

Over and over . . . as the cold itself seemed to take on a sound all its own while it crept over him and continued slowly freezing his body beyond endurance. . . .

He couldn't remember his legs giving out on him. He only remembered suddenly realizing he was on the floor, shaking, the cold forcing itself over him. He tried to push himself up on his forearms but only fell down again.

Beefy hands grabbed him by the shoulders, pulling him upright. "Come on, Kaiba, you've gotta keep moving," a gruff voice told him.

For a moment Seto was too confused to fully process that, either.

 _Who is that? . . . Crump. It's Crump. I'm locked in a walk-in freezer with Crump._

Seto turned, looking up at his former enemy through bleary eyes. "Don't you ever get cold?" he mumbled.

"Me? I'm a penguin, remember?" Crump laughed.

"Penguin . . . ?" Seto blinked, squinting at Crump as the man morphed into a giant blue-and-white penguin with a top hat. "Ugh." Seto shut his eyes and held a hand to his head.

Crump stiffened as Seto slumped against him. "Kaiba?! Hey, hey, hey! No snoozing, remember? You've gotta stay awake!" He blinked, shivering. While the cold took a bit longer to effect him to the extent it was affecting Seto, he certainly wasn't immune. Judging from the boy's behavior, he was slipping into confusion. That wasn't good at all. And when Crump followed suit . . . what then?

"How did you do that?" Seto mumbled.

"Do what?" Crump retorted.

"Change into a penguin. . . ."

"I didn't mean it literally!" Crump exclaimed.

"I saw it. . . ."

"Oh brother, are you hallucinating?!" Crump shivered more violently. This was very bad and only getting worse. He knew it wouldn't be long and he would start slipping into the same confused state.

Seto grunted, slumping farther against Crump.

"Okay, you must be bad off or you'd never do that," Crump said. He held Seto closer. All joking and awkwardness aside, this situation was getting serious. He would have to do whatever he could to keep Seto warm. Himself too, of course.

"You know, I think I'm really starting to feel bad for trying to freeze Téa in Noa's world," he said with a weak laugh.

"Then at least there's some point to this," Seto slurred.

"I guess, if you wanna see it that way. . . ." Crump shifted, worried when Seto didn't reply. "Come on, Kaiba!" He shook the teen roughly. Still no response. "Kaiba, you've gotta think of Mokuba! Remember? Your kid brother? He'll be devastated without you!"

Finally Seto started, weakly. "Mokuba . . ."

"That's right." Crump didn't even try to hide his relief. "You almost slipped off there. You've gotta hang on, alright? Just think about Mokuba. Think about anything that'll keep you awake."

Seto moved slightly and looked up at Crump. "You're . . . holding me. . . ."

"You fell on me," Crump shrugged. "You needed the warmth, so . . ."

Seto didn't try to move. He had seemed to accept that he could not and probably should instead seek whatever warmth he could get. But that didn't stop him from one last crack. ". . . When we get out of here . . . we will never speak of this, to anyone."

Crump had to laugh, even though he was perfectly willing to agree. "No arguments from me. Although they'll probably find out anyway, considering we'll be like this when they open the door."

"More's the pity," Seto grunted.

Crump blinked again as he shivered more violently. It was starting to sound like penguins chirping in the far corners of the freezer. If he stared off at nothing for too long, it began to look like he could see the birds out of the corners of his eyes, slipping out of the shadows and waddling over to them.

 _Oh great. It's starting in for me now._

He shut his eyes tightly as he clung to the reality of holding on to Seto's half-frozen form.

 _Come on, guys. . . . Come soon. We're not gonna make it much longer._


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

As it turned out, Angelique's house was a small place on a fairly nice street. But it was empty, as the group soon discovered as they climbed onto the porch and desperately rang the doorbell and knocked.

"No one's home," Yami Bakura grunted after peering into every window.

"What are we going to do?!" Serenity cried.

"Just stay calm," Duke soothed. "I'm sure one of the neighbors can help us."

One such neighbor was looking over the wooden fence right then. "You're looking for the Germaine girl?" she asked.

Duke perked up. "That's Angelique's last name?"

"Sure," the chatty old woman nodded. "Haven't seen her today. If she's not with that voodoo priest, she's at her family's restaurant."

Everyone exchanged amazed looks.

"It wouldn't happen to be called Angelique's, would it?" Atem asked.

"Sure would," the woman said.

"Thanks," Duke said in relief.

"So it's a family restaurant, yet Angelique's uncle conveniently forgot to mention it?" David mused.

"That really is suspicious, isn't it," Duke frowned. He took out his phone. "I'll find out if anyone is closer to it than we are right now."

It only took a moment to text everyone in the group. Soon an answering text came back from Johnson.

 _We all split up and have been going up and down the streets around the knick-knack shop._

 _I can see Angelique's just up the block from where I am. I'll try it now._

Duke wanted to relax, but his cynical side wouldn't permit it. He quickly typed back.

 _Ask about Kaiba and Crump, whether you see the girl or not. Kaiba supposedly left the place,_

 _but I'm not sure I'd put anything past these people. Maybe they're lying through their teeth._

"What's going on?" Serenity asked, leaning over to look.

"Johnson's going to check it out," Duke said.

"I hope he has some luck," David said.

 _I know all about lying and liars. I'm sure I can find my way around._

Duke sighed, staring at the text. "You'd better," he muttered. "Who knows what depends on it."

xxxx

With the news that the mystery of the missing people might be solved by going to the diner Angelique's, all the groups began converging on that location. Mai and Téa, who had been searching farther away, were taking longer to arrive.

"This has to work!" Téa exclaimed, wringing her hands as Mai weaved around the New Orleans streets. "They have to be okay. . . ."

"We might not find any answers, you know," Mai said. "They insisted Kaiba had left when Mokuba called there."

"But maybe if a whole bunch of us show up, they'll change their tune and tell the truth," Téa hoped.

"If they weren't telling the truth in the first place," Mai retorted. "Look, hon, Kaiba could have left and something happened to him on his way back. Same with that Evangeline girl."

"I can hardly believe she doesn't remember anything about meeting Kaiba," Téa said in horror. "What could that creep have done to her?!"

"Any number of things, most of which have nothing to do with voodoo," Mai deadpanned.

"Well, no one's talked to Angelique yet," Téa said. "Maybe she'll know something. She was supposed to have met Crump, after all."

"We don't even know if that happened," Mai sighed. She turned a corner. "Are you really this worried about Crump?"

Téa flushed. ". . . He's not our enemy anymore," she said. "Okay, maybe he's still not one of my favorite people, but I don't want anything to happen to him."

"And Kaiba?" Mai spoke more quietly now.

"He's our friend," Téa said softly. "My friend. . . . And Mokuba's brother. . . . I can't stand to think of what Mokuba would do without him. . . ."

She bit her lip and tugged on her bracelet. Mokuba had told her once that Seto had drawn up a new will in which the Ishtars had been named as Mokuba's guardians were anything to happen to him. Mokuba, of course, would inherit the house and KaibaCorp.

" _How did it make you feel?"_ Téa had gently asked.

" _Weird,"_ Mokuba had replied. _"Wills are for old people. Seto shouldn't need to have one. . . ."_ He had looked away at the game shop door. _"But . . . I'm glad that he's always thinking about me."_

Téa couldn't help remembering what Mokuba had said when Yugi and Joey had been about to go into the first virtual reality game to rescue Seto. Mokuba had insisted on going along, not just because he was the most familiar with the virtual world, but because he felt life would be meaningless without Seto and if they failed, he would rather be trapped in the game with Seto than to try to live in the outside world without him. It had haunted Téa. The brothers were truly inseparable; she couldn't stand to think of Seto dying.

She was getting morbid, though, wasn't she? She frowned. There was no real reason to think Seto might be dead. Why would he be?

. . . Unless whatever Evangeline had told him had been worth killing him over. It had been worth erasing her memories over.

"Téa?" Mai broke into her thoughts.

Téa started. "Oh. I'm sorry, Mai. I was just thinking about Kaiba and Mokuba. . . ."

"They're really close, I know," Mai said. "But if anything did happen to Kaiba, I don't think Mokuba would be the only one devastated about it. . . ." She gave Téa a knowing look.

Téa went completely red. "I don't even know Kaiba that well, really," she exclaimed. "And he always frustrated me so much. Sometimes I thought I hated him!"

"But you don't now," Mai pointed out.

". . . No," Téa agreed. "I don't now. . . ."

She slumped back against the seat, staring out at the late afternoon light.

 _Where are you, Kaiba? Please be alright. . . ._

xxxx

Johnson was the first to arrive at the diner, as he had been sure he would be. Adjusting his tie and his glasses, he headed inside with purpose.

The agonized girl behind the counter was definitely Angelique. She was leaning on it and wringing her hands. When she caught sight of Johnson, her dark skin turned several shades of pale.

Immediately Johnson dropped all pretense of smoothness and ran over to her. "Where's Crump?!" he demanded, grabbing her wrist. "I can tell you know. And Seto Kaiba is missing as well. Did he really leave the diner as we were told he did?"

She cried out, pulling free of his grasp. "I . . . I don't know what you're talking about!" she insisted.

"Of course you do," Johnson snapped. "I want my friend back. And my ex-boss." His eyes narrowed. "If you know of anything about their whereabouts and don't tell me, you'll be an accessory to murder if they die."

Angelique choked, turning away and covering her mouth with a hand. For what seemed like an eternity she debated with herself. Then, at last, she started down the hallway. "Come with me."

Johnson chased after her. "I should also tell you that everyone knows I'm here, and they're all going to start trickling in shortly," he said. "So if anything happens to me, they'll know it within a few minutes."

Angelique stopped, gesturing for him to do the same. "If we can get past her, we can save them," she told him.

Johnson stared. Up ahead was a woman with wildly curly hair and a maniacal smile. She wasn't watching them at all, but instead was periodically looking through a small window in a door and cackling madly to herself.

"What on Earth," Johnson gasped.

"They're locked in the freezer," Angelique explained. "She's watching them . . . and me. I tried to get away for help, but I was caught."

"But if she's back here, why couldn't you leave the counter up front?" Johnson frowned.

"She claims she'll know," Angelique replied. "Dr. Raven has a crystal that lets him see people. She said she has a smaller version of it."

"Well, maybe it's a miniature camera or something," Johnson said uncomfortably. He looked to the heavy door in growing distress. "You say they're in the _freezer?!_ How long have they been in there?!"

"Too long," Angelique whispered in anguish. "I don't know if they're still alive. From the way she looks, they must be suffering. . . ."

Johnson swallowed hard. He wasn't into physical fights and never had been. He didn't think he would have much trouble with this woman, but on the other hand, what if she really did have some kind of hidden skills?

He steeled himself. He had to do this. In a situation like this, every second counted. The others would be coming soon, but maybe even that would be too late.

If it wasn't too late already. . . .

He started forward in determination. "Excuse me," he called when he was right up behind the strange woman.

She spun around, immediately flinging a strange powder into his face.

He gasped, falling back. "What . . . ?! What is this?!"

The woman just laughed.

Angelique ran to the freezer door and quickly unlocked it, hauling it open. "Are you alright?!" she cried. "Please, answer me!"

Crump looked up with bleary eyes. "You got to us," he said with a weak smile. "Hey, Kaiba, you see this?" He shook the boy in his arms. "We're saved. . . ."

Seto gave an unintelligible groan.

Johnson came from around the door, a light coming into his eyes at the sight of them still alive. "Thank God! Can you get up?"

"Yeah, I think so. If not, you can just drag us out." Crump reached for Johnson's hand and used it to support himself while getting to his feet. Still only semi-conscious, Seto stumbled with him, but finally made a weak grab at his green suitcoat.

"Finally! Some signs of life!" Crump said. He limped to the doorway, still supporting Seto, and stepped out into the hallway. "I never thought I'd be so grateful to be warm. . . ." He shivered. "Hey, was it just another hallucination or was there some crazy broad looking in at us?"

"She was there," Johnson said. "Only now she's completely gone. . . ." He stared down the hall in disbelief.

"Nevermind her," Angelique said. She shut the freezer door with a firm _clang._ "I'll get you some blankets and warm soup. And I'd better call 911. Just stand under this heat vent until I bring what you need."

Seto looked to her, blinking repeatedly as he tried to bring her into focus. "Just . . . call my plane," he mumbled. "I always travel with doctors and a medical wing. You never know . . . when you'll need them."

"What's the number for your plane?" Angelique asked.

Seto recited it. His voice was still slurred, albeit slightly stronger now that they were free.

Angelique immediately wrote it down. "I'll call right now," she promised.

"And I'll call the others," Johnson said. He took out his phone. "By the way, do you have any idea what was in that powder that woman flung at me?"

Angelique looked to him with a start, her eyes worried. "No, I don't. Do you feel strange?"

"I don't think so," Johnson said. "Maybe it was nothing more than a distraction so she could run away."

Crump gave him a worried look too. "Are you sure, Buddy? Creepy old ladies who laugh at guys slowly freezing to death can't be up to anything good when they throw weird powder at the rescue party."

"I'm sure," Johnson insisted as he started to dial Gansley's number.

". . . Wait!" Angelique suddenly exclaimed.

Johnson froze mid-dial. "What?"

"Dr. Raven told me I was supposed to poison anyone who came to rescue these poor people," Angelique said. "I couldn't do it. But what if that woman did it?!"

Johnson paled. "The powder could be poison?!"

"Oh no," Crump cried. "That's too messed-up. It can't be!"

"I hope it's not," Angelique said softly. "But I wouldn't put it past her."

Johnson swallowed hard and looked down at the phone. Now his hands shook as he finished dialing the number.

Gansley answered after only one ring. "What's happening, Johnson?!"

Johnson drew a shaking breath. "Crump and Mr. Kaiba have been found," he reported.

"Where?!" Gansley demanded.

"In the freezer." Johnson gripped the phone a bit tighter.

" _What?!"_ Gansley boomed in horror and outrage. "How bad off are they?!"

"We got to them before it became as bad as it could have," Johnson said. "They were just starting to slip into hallucinations. That girl is calling Mr. Kaiba's doctors. By the time you get here, we'll have a good start on getting them warmed up."

"Good," Gansley barked. "We'll be there shortly."

Crump stared at Johnson as he hung up. "Hey, hey, wait a minute," he gasped. "You didn't mention anything about the poison!"

"No," Johnson agreed, "and I'm not going to. Not unless I know it really is poison. When the doctors come, I'll have them examine me. But I don't want to make everyone worry if there's no reason to. They've already been so worried about you. I have too, of course."

Crump frowned. He was still feeling a little loopy from the onset of the hallucinations, but he could think well enough to process what Johnson was likely thinking and not saying. "Is this about how you feel you should be suffering instead of the rest of us?" he said quietly.

Johnson started. "Maybe somewhat," he admitted. "I just don't want to cause any more pain than this madman has already caused." He tried to smile. "I'll be alright, Crump. The important thing is to get you and Mr. Kaiba warm again. Please, don't say anything to the others unless I really am sick."

". . . Okay," Crump said slowly, "but I don't like it. If you start acting strange at all, even if the docs say you haven't been poisoned, I'm gonna tell them."

Seto didn't say anything, but that wasn't particularly unusual for him. He watched the two with glazed eyes and stepped closer to the heat. It was impossible to tell if he was really aware enough to understand the conversation.

xxxx

The rest of the Big Five was closest to the diner and they arrived ahead of everyone else in the group, just after the doctors.

"Crump!" Lector spotted their friend burrowed in a blanket near an old radiator and rushed over. "Are you alright?!"

Crump looked up at him, and Lector was relieved to see that his eyes were clear. "Yeah," he said. "But oh boy, if that wasn't a doozy." He set the mug he had been holding on the table. "I've gotta say, being stuck in the cold with no way out really isn't as fun as it seemed in Noa's world."

Lector sighed and sat down next to him. "Johnson said you were starting to hallucinate."

"Yep. You remember that scene in _Dumbo_ with all the pink elephants on parade?" Crump rushed on when Lector gave him a blank stare. "Well, this was like that, but with penguins. And they weren't pink."

". . . I see," Lector said, though he really didn't.

"How did it happen?" Nesbitt demanded, his eyes burning.

"Well, after you've been in the cold for too long, you . . ."

"Not the pink penguins!" Nesbitt interrupted. "How did you get locked in the freezer?!"

"Good question," Crump said. "I don't really know. First Kaiba was acting funny and he fell over on the floor. When I tried to find out what was wrong, some nutty dame blew powder in my face. That was it for me. I woke up in the freezer."

"They'll pay," Nesbitt snarled, clenching a shaking fist.

"Of course they will," Gansley said. He looked around. "Where's Johnson?"

"Oh. . . ." Crump grabbed the mug again. "He's . . . uh . . . with the doc, I think. P-Probably asking about me, making sure I'm not still hallucinating when I say I'm okay, that kinda thing."

"Not a bad idea," Gansley said with a slight smirk as he sat at the table. Sobering, he added, "Although you do seem your normal self, Crump. I know I speak for all of us when I say that we are very relieved."

Nesbitt nodded. "Yeah." He stood behind Crump and gruffly patted his shoulders.

"Very relieved," Lector quietly echoed.

xxxx

Mokuba was filled with mixed emotions when he took Lector's phone call moments later. "They found Seto!" he exclaimed to Marik.

"Thank goodness," Marik said in relief. "Where was he?"

Lector sighed, overhearing the question and knowing it was on Mokuba's mind as well. "I regret to have to tell you this, Mokuba, but he and Crump were locked in the freezer."

Mokuba went sheet-white. _"In the freezer?!"_

Marik was stunned too. "How bad off are they?!" he demanded into the phone while gripping Mokuba's shoulder.

"They'll live," Lector said. "Mr. Kaiba's doctors are here. Johnson and the young lady here at the diner did their best to keep them warm. I just got here."

"We'll be there right away," Mokuba vowed. "Thanks, Lector." He hung up, his hands shaking. "I can't believe all of this is happening to Seto and Crump. If I'd just realized the person at the diner was lying to me when she said Seto had left . . . !"

"There's no logical reason why you would have known, Mokuba," Marik insisted. "At that time, there was no reason to believe that anyone at the diner was lying."

"Yeah, but . . ." Mokuba looked away. "If we hadn't found them in time, I'd always blame myself. . . ."

Marik was sure he would have. "Luckily, we don't have to think about that," he said kindly.

"Yeah . . ." Mokuba said softly.

xxxx

Seto was definitely rousing up more after being wrapped in an electric blanket and drinking a mug of hot soup. As his mind cleared, the more he realized how close he had come to unconsciousness. Death likely would have followed shortly after.

He frowned, glancing over at Crump as the man talked and laughed with his friends. How strange it was, to realize that a former enemy had done all he could to keep Seto conscious. Of course, in this case it had been helping himself too, but although Crump hadn't admitted it, Seto actually had the feeling that Crump had been concerned about him.

They had all collectively tried to reach out to him while he had been trapped in Gozaburo's nightmare world last month. He had felt their concern then. And Mokuba and others had told him that they had all tried to protect him from Gozaburo. It wasn't that he hadn't believed his brother's words; it was just that it had sounded so outlandish and impossible coming from people who had hated him for so long.

The door opened and Mokuba came flying in, followed closely by the Ishtars and Joey and Tristan. "Seto!" Mokuba cried. He ran to his brother and into his arms.

Seto held him close. "It's alright," he said quietly. "Everything's going to be alright now."

"It'd better be," Mokuba said. "You'd better be."

Gansley now caught sight of Johnson sitting at the counter and drinking a mug of either coffee or hot chocolate. He looked badly shaken. Frowning, Gansley went over to him. "Johnson, are you alright?"

"Hmm? Oh." Johnson looked up at him. "Y-Yes, I am. . . . It . . . er . . . was a terrible experience, seeing them in the freezer. . . ."

Gansley nodded in understanding. "I wish we'd known sooner, but I'm glad we didn't know any later."

Johnson nodded too. "It could have been fatal for them both if they'd slipped into unconsciousness." He shuddered. "First the incident with the cement pot and now this. . . . Who . . ." His voice caught in his throat. "Who are we going to almost lose next?"

Gansley shook his head. He had no answers.

Joey was furious. "Alright, who's goin' down for this?!" he cried. "Puttin' people in the freezer! That's low. That's beyond low! And I'm not gonna stand for it!"

"Neither am I, Wheeler, but there's not much I can do about it right now," Seto grunted. It was probably more because of the principle of the thing in general, but still, it was a strange experience, to hear Joey so outraged about something that had happened to him.

"The people to blame are Dr. Raven and that mad woman working for him," Atem said.

"Then I say let's surprise them at the shop!" Joey declared. "Don't give them a chance to do anything more to anyone!"

"Right now we should focus on taking care of Kaiba and Crump," Atem said. "If they can be moved, I think we should get them back to the hotel."

The doctor nodded. "It should be alright. Getting them to warm beds is a good idea. Just make sure they stay warm on the car ride."

"Of course," Atem said.

Joey was still fuming. Tristan frowned as he looked to him. He could tell by the look in Joey's eyes that he wasn't going to give up his idea of trying to corner the bad guys. And Tristan was all for it, really; this really had been an outrageous stunt. But, knowing how Joey tended to impulsively run into things he shouldn't, he was worried.

Nesbitt was fuming likewise. "The boy is right," he said to the others as they helped Crump up. "We have to go after those people before they try anything else."

"Not to mention we need to find out if there's anything more to this than what we've been told," Lector said.

Overhearing, Seto suddenly remembered his phone. "There is," he said. "Evangeline told me things that are very concerning. I tried to record the conversation . . . although I don't know if my phone survived being frozen." He fumbled in his pocket for it.

Lector went over to him. "What did she say, Mr. Kaiba?"

Seto took out his phone and powered it up. He had turned it off while it still had enough battery to perform a few tasks, and now he loaded the recording app and hit the Playback button.

Everyone was stunned into silence by the conversation between Seto and Evangeline. Lector was downright shaken. "My father lied," he whispered. "He lied to me and I believed him!"

Gansley gripped Lector's shoulder. "That doesn't mean he really has been stealing the crates," he said. "He may have only thought it would make him look bad to tell everything."

"He lied," Lector snarled. "He got me out here on a lie!" He slammed his hand on the table. "Crump and Mr. Kaiba almost died because of his lies and Evangeline had who knows what done to her! If he would have told me the truth in the first place, she wouldn't have felt the need to go looking for Mr. Kaiba!"

"Hey, Lector." Crump reached and laid his hand on Lector's. "We're okay. We're gonna be okay. And we'll find out what's going on here. We'll bring down whoever needs to be brought down."

Lector flinched. "Your hand is still cold," he whispered. Louder he boomed, "After we get you safely to the hotel, my father is going to answer for this!"

There was no calming him. Johnson swallowed the rest of what was hot chocolate and shakily got up from the counter stool. Lector was a very trusting person. Betraying his trust could set him on fire as much or moreso than Nesbitt. There was no way Johnson was going to reveal any of what had been happening with him while Lector had this to deal with. He still didn't know the truth anyway. The doctor hadn't thought he was poisoned, but they wouldn't really know until he was able to analyze some of the powder grains back at the medical center on the plane. Until then, Johnson just had to sit tight and wait. And call if he started feeling anything strange in the least.

Téa and Mai burst through the door just as everyone was starting to prepare to leave. "Kaiba!" Téa called. She hurried over. "Are you really okay?"

"I'm fine," Seto said in some surprise. He took up his phone, replacing it in his pocket.

"You were almost frozen to death," Téa cried, tears pricking her eyes. "How could you be fine?"

"With some rest, I will be," Seto insisted.

Guilt flashed through Crump's eyes. Téa already knew what it was like; it was no wonder that she was particularly upset. As he got up, he stepped close enough to her to say, "Hey, Téa . . . I'm sorry about what I tried to do to you. You didn't deserve that."

Téa looked to him in utter shock. "No, I didn't," she said. "But . . . thank you, for telling me that. Are _you_ alright?"

"Oh sure," Crump said. "You know me; I just keep on keeping on."

"Do you still love the cold after this?" Téa wondered.

"Nothing could make me stop loving it," Crump said. "But I'm sure gonna be careful when I'm out in it. Never gonna forget my coat, that's for sure."

"Yeah, you'd better not," Téa half-quipped.

She walked with everyone as they headed out of the diner. "What's going to happen to that Angelique girl?" she wondered.

"She's been talking to the police," Seto said. "They decided to take her into protective custody for the time being. She may know more about what's been happening than she was willing to say. After we've had more of a chance to warm up, I'll call the station and find out if she said anything more."

"And I will call on my father," Lector darkly added. "He's got a lot of explaining to do."

"Why?" Téa asked. "What happened?"

"I'll play it for you in the car," Seto said.

Téa looked around at everyone as they stepped into the winter evening. Emotions were running high, and for good reason. But she had the bad feeling that there would still be much more to be angry about later.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes: Joey and Tristan's little adventure is thoroughly based on a wonderfully creepy scene from the** _ **Hardy Boys**_ **episode** _ **Voodoo Doll**_ **!**

 **Chapter Seven**

Joey was still fuming as he drove in the procession back to the hotel. Lector's father had got him out here on false pretenses. A nice girl had lost her memories. Two people had almost been killed in a freezer.

"This Dr. Raven creep has gotta be stopped," he snarled.

"Dude, we all know that," Tristan retorted. "But how will going off blowing your top help anything? Look, the police have already been out there trying to talk to him and to find that creepy woman Crump and Johnson told about. Apparently they didn't have any luck."

"So they weren't at the shop," Joey scowled. "Let's find out where he lives and try there! Or . . . he's a priest, right? Maybe we could catch him out doing some kind of voodoo ritual or something."

"Like that would work?" Tristan countered. "Joey, you know how you get about anything involving ghosts. If we really caught him in the middle of some ritual, you'd freak!"

"Yeah, well, under the circumstances I'd be willing to try it anyway," Joey said. "But I think we'd have a much better chance if just some of us go. I don't want Serenity or Mai going anyway. How about just you and me, Tristan?"

"I figured you were leading up to something like that," Tristan sighed. "But we don't even know where to look! Raven's probably not the guy's real name, so I doubt he's in the phone book."

"We could try Germaine," Joey said. "The girl's name, you know?"

"Oh yeah, like there wouldn't be a thousand Germaines in the book," Tristan countered. "We don't know the guy's first name either."

"Then let's go out to the docks," Joey argued. "We'll try to find out exactly what was in the crates and maybe his name will be on the order slip or something."

"So basically we'd be breaking and entering into the office," Tristan frowned.

"Have you got any better ideas?" Joey shot back.

"Actually, no," Tristan said. "But I'm still not crazy about yours."

"Well, whether you are or not, will you do it?" Joey demanded.

Tristan heaved a sigh. "You're probably going to do it whether I say Yes or not," he said. "And what kind of a friend would I be if I just let you go off alone?"

Joey beamed. "Alright!" He had been bringing up the rear of the procession. At the next corner, he turned right and slipped away from them.

"They're going to worry," Tristan pointed out.

"They can call," Joey retorted.

"And you'll answer?" Tristan pointedly asked.

"Of course I'll answer! . . . I just might not tell the whole truth about what we're going to do," Joey muttered.

Tristan slumped back against the seat. "I might have known."

xxxx

The rest of the vehicles made it back to the hotel without incident and were soon taking Seto and Crump up to the floor where most of their rooms were. It was only as they began to separate, with Crump and the rest of the Big Five disappearing into the Grand Suite and Seto and Mokuba and others heading for the suite Seto had picked for himself and Mokuba that they realized people were missing.

"Uh, guys?" Mai spoke up. "Has anyone seen Joey and Tristan?"

"Oh no," Atem exclaimed in horror.

"They're not here?!" Serenity shrieked. Frantically she looked around.

"And Joey wanted to go off to confront Dr. Raven!" Téa moaned.

"Well, he won't have any luck at the shop," Seto grunted. "The police already went there and it was empty."

"What about the docks?" Duke suggested. "Maybe they're going to try Téa's and Mai's idea."

"That's always possible," Mai mused.

"I'll try calling him," Yugi said, pulling out his phone.

"You know he'll just make things up to avoid discussing the subject, if it's something he doesn't want to talk about," Atem pointed out.

Yugi frowned. That was probably true. In any case, Joey wasn't answering.

"And even if we drag it out of him, he'll just insist," Atem was continuing. "Frankly, I think the only way to handle this situation is to go after him. Since I'm sure he'll go to the docks, why don't you and I head him off there, Yugi?"

Yugi started. "Let's!" he declared.

"I'm sure going," Serenity spoke up.

"And if you're going, I'm going," Duke said.

"Not to mention me," David added.

"Hold on, boys," Mai said. "It was my idea to begin with. I'd like to be involved too." She looked to Téa. "What do you say, Téa?"

Téa also started. Her mind had started to wander. "Huh? Oh. . . ." She bit her lip, conflicted. She _did_ want to go with them, and yet . . .

Yugi gave her an understanding smile. "Maybe Mokuba could use you here, Téa," he suggested.

Téa slowly smiled back, relieved. "Yeah, maybe he can. Thanks, Yugi."

"Well, suit yourself." Mai half-saluted, half-waved. "See you later, hon."

"Bye, Mai. Yugi, Atem. . . . Be careful," Téa implored.

"We will," Yugi promised.

"I think I should go too," Bakura announced. "But Oreo shouldn't. Is it alright if she stays here?"

"Fine. Whatever," Seto grunted.

Bakura set the cat on a chair and petted her head. "I just don't want you to get into any danger," he said as she meowed in protest.

Yami Bakura took out the keys for the van. "Let's go then. Who knows what those dolts are going to get into," he growled.

"Bye, everyone. . . ." Téa watched as they all hurried out the door. Her stomach twisted; maybe she should be going with them. Ordinarily there wouldn't be any doubt. But when there were friends in two different locations that she wanted to be with, she was torn.

She looked back as Seto sank onto the couch in the electric blanket. Mokuba was calling for a portable heater and some hot chocolate and soup for room service. Biting her lip, she went over to the couch. "You're not going to lay down, Kaiba?"

"Not yet. I doubt I'd sleep." Seto sank back into the couch. "I'm surprised you're not going to go track Wheeler down."

Téa sighed. "Maybe I should. But it's hard to know where I should be in a situation like this. I want to go with Yugi and the others, but I also want to be here in case I can help. . . ."

"I don't need a whole army waiting on me," Seto grunted. "I'm going to be fine." Averting his gaze, he muttered, "It's bizarre to realize that's probably partially because of Crump. He kept me focusing on something other than the cold for as long as he possibly could, and when that finally failed, he still did what he could to keep me from slipping away. The latter could have been to try to keep himself warm longer, but what he did at first didn't really have anything to do with him. He didn't have to do it."

Téa was stunned that Seto was telling her any of this. Was it because he figured she would best understand his bewildered feelings about Crump? Probably.

She sat down on the other side of the couch. "It always does feel kind of strange to realize that people who once were your enemies aren't any longer," she said. "I've felt like that about Pegasus . . . Marik . . . the bikers . . . Dartz . . . Yami Bakura. . . . Now the Big Five too. . . ." She hesitated. "And you. . . ."

Seto looked to her. ". . . It's completely opposite everything I learned to believe," he said. "It was drilled into me by both Gozaburo and others that people don't change, unless it's for the worse."

"And with some people, that's true," Téa said. "But sometimes it isn't. There really are still good people in the world, Seto Kaiba. And sometimes . . . there are people who were good and they just . . . lost their way, whether that's because they got infused with some creepy corrupting power or they let their anger and hatred take over . . . or because they were taught to be ruthless and cold. And there's always a way back for those people, if they want to take it."

Seto was still unwilling to discuss any references to himself. "Does it ever stop feeling strange?"

"Yeah." Téa smiled. "Once you realize it's really for real, it feels incredible."

Seto looked away and didn't reply.

xxxx

Crump had burrowed into his bed, but was still wide awake. Lector had lingered, wanting to make sure he was really alright before going to have it out with his father. A phone call wasn't good enough; his outrage required a face-to-face confrontation. Seto had sent him a copy of the recording he had made from Evangeline's visit and he intended to play it for the man and get his reaction firsthand.

"You shouldn't go alone, Pal," Crump told him. "I don't need everybody here. Take someone with you. You might be too upset to drive and you'd hit a tree or something."

"I'll go," Gansley said. "But we still might not get an answer."

"I would like to quit right now and get home before anyone else gets hurt," Lector snarled. "That might be better for my mother and my siblings as well. Evangeline wouldn't have been hurt if she hadn't tried to talk to Seto Kaiba."

"That might be true," Gansley said. "In a case like this, it's hard to say. If we hadn't come, Dr. Raven might have started attacking your siblings one by one to get at your father."

"Oh. . . ." Lector ran a hand over his face. "I don't want anyone I care about to be hurt. Do I have to make a choice of who gets hurt because there's no way to keep everyone safe?!"

". . . I don't know," Gansley said quietly.

Nesbitt paced the floor, angry, as he watched them leave. "I'd like to give that man a piece of my mind too," he snarled.

"That'd be great," Crump said sarcastically. "Two hotheads running in together. No wonder Gansley stepped in before you could volunteer."

"Gansley always tries to hold the rest of us together," Johnson said quietly from across the room. "He was always the best at it. That's how he ended up our leader."

"Yeah, I guess." Nesbitt looked to Crump. "Do you need anything else?"

"Right now I'm good," Crump said.

"Then I'm going in the living room for a while." Nesbitt headed out of the room.

"Just don't leave the suite," Crump called after him.

"I won't," Nesbitt insisted.

Johnson sighed, coming back from the window and over to the other bed in the room. He sank down on the edge, clearly overwhelmed.

Crump rolled over and watched him, concerned. "Come on, Buddy, you're fine," he said. "You're not poisoned! You'd be showing some signs of it by now. Something!"

"What if it's a slow-acting poison?" Johnson retorted. "I've heard that a lot of voodoo is done with the power of suggestion. What if . . ." He reached up, shakily loosening his tie.

"Then you'd be reacting to the suggestion by now," Crump said. "I wish you'd let me tell everyone else. . . ."

"Lector and Nesbitt are on fire enough as it is," Johnson objected. "How can you think of adding more to their rage? And Gansley, he just quietly takes everything that's piled on him, but it has to hurt. He's the one person among us that you can't convince to open up to you. He just bears his burdens alone."

"Okay, think about this. Johnson, just suppose something really is wrong with you," Crump persisted. "What if you get really bad off and I don't know what to do and I can't get the others back in time and . . ." He looked haunted. "What if they come back and you're gone?"

Johnson looked away. "If nothing is wrong with me, I don't want to make everyone else worry. I feel terrible that you know and you can't just focus on getting better because you're worrying about me. And if something is wrong with me . . ." He drew a ragged breath. "There are things I'd like to say . . . and then other things I never wanted to say . . . things I never wanted you to know. . . . And I might end up blurting them out if the poison gets too strong a hold on me. . . ."

Crump frowned. "What kind of things?"

Johnson took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. "Times when I really wasn't a good friend. . . . Nesbitt wasn't the only one who didn't act like a team player sometimes."

"None of us have been model friends all the time," Crump retorted. "We've all had moments where we were self-serving or nasty or our spats got heated. And we've stayed together in spite of it all. I was talking to Lector about that once."

"Yes, but . . . all of those times were to each other's faces," Johnson said. "This is . . . going behind everyone's backs."

"Oh." Crump frowned a bit. "But it's over now, isn't it? You don't do anything like that anymore?"

"No, I haven't," Johnson said. "I couldn't. Not anymore."

Crump sighed. "Then if you did blurt something out, we'd try to think of it like that, that it's the past."

"I just don't want one of your last memories of me to be something negative," Johnson said. "I lived my whole life being self-serving and looking for inventive ways to cheat and not get caught. I lied left and right and I didn't care. But I've come to care so much about all of you. I don't want to do anything that will hurt you. . . ."

"I know," Crump said quietly. "Buddy, I know. And so will they."

Johnson didn't know what else to say, so he finally just looked down and nodded.

xxxx

Mr. Leichter jumped a mile when the doors to his study banged open and Lector stormed in, followed closely by Gansley. "See here," the man snapped. "What is the meaning of this? I taught you better manners than this."

"Right now, Father, I don't care a great deal about manners," Lector spat. "We found Crump and Mr. Kaiba locked in a freezer, half-frozen to death!"

Mr. Leichter flinched. "What?"

"They're going to be alright, but that might not have been the case. And Mr. Kaiba made this recording of his meeting with Evangeline." Lector held up his phone and pressed the Playback button on the recording.

Both Lector and Gansley closely watched Mr. Leichter's reactions to the contents of the recording. Shock at first, then anger. Never any guilt. He didn't even turn pale.

"Evangeline had no right to tell any of that information," he snarled.

"Don't you dare punish Evangeline, Father," Lector snapped. "I had every right to know every bit of what she told."

"Seto Kaiba didn't!" Mr. Leichter boomed.

"Regardless of that, what is your explanation?" Gansley demanded, glowering at the man who was hurting his friend so deeply. "Why didn't you tell about owning the building or trying to evict Dr. Raven?"

"Because I didn't want that to come out," Mr. Leichter growled. "It makes me look bad. And I swear I have not been stealing those crates!"

"If Dr. Raven has really been causing so much trouble, why should it make you look bad to try to evict him, Father?" Lector replaced the phone in his pocket and folded his arms. "I would have understood, had you been up-front with me in the first place. Right now I just feel used. And that would be bad enough, but people all around me are getting hurt because of this!"

"Then you shouldn't have brought them all with you!" Mr. Leichter screamed. "I wasn't planning on a battalion! I only asked for you!"

Gansley's temper cracked. "We chose to come out here because we didn't want him to deal with whatever it was alone!" he belted.

"Then it's your own fault and it isn't my problem that any of you have been hurt!" Mr. Leichter retorted. "I only care that Evangeline was hurt!"

Lector stared at him. "Father, you taught me better than this. You taught me respect and etiquette in the business world. You taught me to be gracious."

"And you turned your back on all my teachings when you took up with this riff-raff," Mr. Leichter answered. "I owe them no respect."

Gansley's eyes burned. "We're not going to learn any more from him. We should leave."

Lector drew a shaking breath. "You're right." He stepped back. "I would pack up and go home right now if it wasn't that I'm also worried about Evangeline and my other siblings and my mother. Right now, Father, I'm not so sure I'm worried about you at all."

Mr. Leichter was completely unaffected by that comment. "Then you'll stay in it for the others?" he demanded.

"Maybe," Lector said. "The police are in it now. Maybe we should just let them take over."

"That's another thing," Mr. Leichter pounced. "What right did you have to bring them into it? I didn't want the bad publicity!"

That was the last straw. "One of my best friends almost died!" Lector screamed. "All you can think about is how everything's going to look for you! This is it, Father. I'm leaving and I'm not coming back!"

"Then good riddance!" Mr. Leichter screamed after him. "I don't want you back! You haven't been my son since you changed the family name, and you're still not my son now! Go back to your riff-raff!"

Lector stormed out of the study, enraged and hurting. Gansley, lingering behind, stared at Mr. Leichter with burning eyes, his hand trembling as he gripped his cane. There was so much he wanted to say. But none of it was good enough. He turned, following Lector out of the room.

xxxx

Dark warehouses at night were hardly one of Joey's favorite places. But he steadfastly pressed on, driving up to the warehouse where Mr. Leichter's crates were stored. No one was around.

"Okay," Tristan said. "We should get into the office and see what we can find in there. Maybe there's some kind of important records that will give us a clue."

"Yeah!" Joey parked and leaped out, running up to the warehouse. "Hey, there's a window open!" He ran over and lifted it. "We can just slip in through here."

"That seems a little too convenient," Tristan frowned. "Maybe we'd better not."

"Come on, Tristan! We've gotta catch these slimeballs!" Joey went through the window before Tristan could protest again.

"Oh man, Joey," Tristan groaned. "I know I'm going to regret this. . . ." But he followed his friend inside.

At first everything was completely quiet in the eerie room. When a torch was suddenly lit up ahead, Joey could barely refrain from a yelp. "What is that?!" he choked instead.

"I don't know, but I don't think it's supposed to be here," Tristan frowned. A torch in a warehouse?

The flames danced and twisted in the darkness, casting bizarre shadows on the walls and floor. Then it illuminated the sight of an oblong crate being pried open by several people.

"What's that?! What's in there?!" Joey gasped.

Both he and Tristan stared in utter shock and horror as a coffin was lifted out of the wooden box. Another was being removed right next to it.

"What are they doing?! What are they _doing?!_ " Joey freaked.

"Joey, calm down!" Tristan snapped, although he was turning pale himself.

Another figure came forward, raising the lids on both at the same time. Joey was about ready to flee in alarm when he saw that they were both empty. "What the heck?!"

"Hey, that's Dr. Raven," Tristan realized. "And some weird lady's coming out now. She must be the one from the diner!"

Dr. Raven raised his hands, chanting something in another language.

"What'd he say?!" Joey hissed.

"Don't look at me!" Tristan shot back.

Two of the men reached down, placing something in each coffin. The woman then loudly cried in English, "Where are the children? Where are the children?!"

"What children?!" Joey exclaimed.

Tristan gasped. "I don't know, but . . . Joey, do you smell that?" He coughed, his eyes watering.

"Yeah!" Joey covered his nose and mouth. "What is it?!"

Dr. Raven gestured to two of the workers. They raised knives, gleaming red from the light of the torch, and plunged them into what was now clearly two photographs, one in each coffin.

Tristan's heart clenched. "Joey . . . !"

"Where are the children?" the woman called again.

Joey's eyes watered. "Those pictures they just stabbed . . . that's us!" he choked out.

He collapsed to the floor. Tristan quickly followed suit.

The chanting stopped. Dr. Raven walked through the group and over to where the boys were sprawled. The torch's glow perfectly captured his cruel smile as he towered over their lifeless forms.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

Bakura was tense as Yami Bakura pulled in at the warehouse alongside the car Mai had taken with Yugi and Atem. Duke pulled in behind them.

"There's Joey's car," Bakura exclaimed. "They really are here!"

"Fools," Yami Bakura grunted. He got out of the van and walked over to the open window. "And I suppose they went through this."

"Most likely." Atem frowned as he came over. "I don't like this."

"It is weird there'd be a window open," Yugi said.

Mai poked it. "You don't suppose they walked into a trap, do you?"

"It's certainly possible. And we have to find them, even if that means we have to walk into it as well." Atem climbed through the window. Everyone else soon joined him.

"Joey!" Serenity called. "Tristan!"

Bakura suddenly tripped over the lid of a crate on the floor. "Oh dear!"

Yami Bakura grabbed his arm as he started to fall. "Those workers don't believe in being neat, do they," he growled.

Yugi bent down to look at the label on the lid. "'Eternal Rest Coffin Company'?!"

Serenity gasped. "Coffins?!"

"Oh great." Mai rolled her eyes. "Joey probably found the contents of that crate and has spent this entire time freaking out about it."

"I wonder if that's another company Mr. Leichter is a supplier for," Atem remarked. "This is supposed to be his warehouse. If he's not the supplier, what are coffins doing in here?"

"I have a bad feeling about this," Yugi said.

They continued to wander through the warehouse, but though they discovered the other parts of the crates, the coffins themselves were nowhere to be found. And, to their grim horror, neither were Joey and Tristan.

"What happened here?" Mai finally asked, coming to a standstill in the middle of the large room. Her frustration and sarcasm had faded, leaving only a woman who was deeply worried about her friends. "They're just completely gone."

"And Joey just isn't answering his phone," Yugi said, pulling his phone away from his ear after two failed attempts.

"And they definitely _were_ here." Yami Bakura reached down, picking up something he had suddenly noticed on the floor.

"Joey's wallet," Serenity said in horror. "No! Where is he?! Where's my brother?! And where's Tristan?!"

Duke pulled her into a hug. "We're going to find them, Serenity. They can't have disappeared into thin air!"

Deeply troubled now, Atem started back for the window. "We're going to have to get everyone together to spread throughout the city and look for them," he said. "And we should also try this Eternal Rest Coffin Company. I know it's not much, but it's the only possible lead we have."

Everyone else trailed after him.

"I'll send a text to everyone," Yugi said, badly shaken.

xxxx

Gansley felt helpless as he and Lector left the manor and got back in the car. Lector practically threw himself into the passenger seat. Relieved that at least he wasn't planning to drive, Gansley put his cane in the back and got behind the wheel.

Driving was about all he could do right now, he thought as he turned the car around and drove down the driveway and through the gates. He was the leader, supposed to look out for all the others, but he honestly had no idea what to say right now. He had had a fairly good relationship with his parents; he couldn't imagine them treating him as Lector was being treated now. And where on Earth was Lector's mother? She hadn't put in one appearance so far.

Gansley had ended up so often thinking of things in terms of business deals, even his own marriage. But even with that cold approach to the relationship, he had cared on some level. He never would have been so unconcerned if his wife was in danger. And he missed his children. He had no idea what they were like or how they had grown up or what his grandchildren even looked like. How could Lector's father be so dismissive and so cold and cruel towards his own flesh and blood?

Both of their phones dinged as a text message came through. Lector took out his and stared at the message. "Mr. Wheeler and Mr. Taylor have both disappeared at my father's warehouse," he exclaimed in disbelief.

"What?!" Gansley cried. "What on Earth were they doing out there?!"

"Apparently they were trying to find out what was actually in those missing crates," Lector said. "And the only clues to the missing boys are crates for the Eternal Rest Coffin Company that are scattered around the room."

"Is that another company your father was supplying?"

"I don't know," Lector said. "Nor do I want to ask him. Let's go directly to the company itself." He tapped the name into the GPS and the directions came up. "I'll let Yugi know that we'll be checking there." He tapped that out in the text, then suddenly realized something else and added that.

 _You said everyone should spread out across the city to look. I agree._

 _But stay out of the French Quarter! Leave that to the adults._

Yugi texted back after a moment.

 _Why? What's wrong?_

Lector sighed and elaborated.

 _During Carnival season, the French Quarter becomes very much adults-only_

 _and there is a great deal of risqué and ribald behavior right out in the street._

 _I don't want you kids running around there._

There was silence for a moment, then a quick reply.

 _Thanks, Lector. We'll leave it to you guys. And Atem and Yami Bakura, maybe._

Lector had to smirk a bit. They would probably be useful in a tight spot in the French Quarter.

"What's going on?" Gansley asked.

Lector set the phone back to the GPS program to give the directions to the coffin company. "I was just warning the kids about the French Quarter," he said. "Funny, it just really hit me that we're among the few adults in this group. In the past we tried to take revenge on those kids. Now, I feel responsible for them."

"That is a strange difference," Gansley mused. "I suppose we are responsible for them to some extent."

Lector sighed and leaned wearily against the seat. ". . . My father always tried to keep my oldest sister and me and my brothers out of the French Quarter during Mardi Gras. We were pretty obedient children, actually. But then there was the year my brother Michel was determined to break all the rules and get in there."

"Heh. Kids are like that," Gansley said.

"He also convinced my sister Adele to go with him." Lector tiredly rubbed his eyes. "Phillipe and I didn't want to do it, but we had to go chasing after them to try to bring them back. We ended up on Bourbon Street."

"I doubt that went well," Gansley remarked.

"It didn't," Lector said. "We all saw things not meant for children's eyes. When we got home, of course no one wanted to tell Father what had happened. But we were all acting out of sorts and he quickly realized something was wrong. I finally admitted the whole truth about it. He was angry, but he didn't punish me or Phillipe since we had only gone there trying to stop the others. We really couldn't have gone to get Father to go after them, since by then they would have been lost." He stared out at the dark night. "Father was fair then."

"I'm sorry," Gansley said quietly.

"So am I," Lector said. "I don't feel lost, because I know I still have a family. And yet . . . I know I've lost something very precious to me."

"I felt the same when my wife took the children and walked out of my life," Gansley told him. "She divorced me and I haven't seen them since."

"You didn't have visitation rights?" Lector said in surprise.

"I did, but she moved too far away for me to see them. Then she changed their names and I never was able to locate them, even with all my resources." Gansley sighed. "However, in my case I know I was partially at fault for considering the marriage a business decision. In your case, you didn't do anything that should have caused your father to turn against you."

"If he really is a thief, then he's a hypocrite to disown me for what I did," Lector said bitterly. "Although I realize my actions were terrible." He looked at his friend with surprised sadness. "Just considering the marriage a business decision doesn't seem like a good reason to actively hide your children from you."

"It was more than that," Gansley admitted. "She also didn't like my business practices and didn't want me teaching that to the children. But now they're grown and should be able to make their own decisions on whether or not to seek me out. Apparently they have no interest. For all I know, she may have even lied to them about me and said I didn't care about them."

"I am so sorry," Lector said. "We sadly do have losing the love of biological family members in common."

"Eh. Well, nevermind that now. We have two foolish teenagers to find." Gansley turned a corner.

xxxx

Téa was horrified when she received Yugi's text. "Oh no!" she gasped. "Joey and Tristan aren't at the warehouse now, but they _were_ there! Something is wrong!"

Seto grunted. "Typical."

"Are there any clues?" Marik asked in concern.

"Just something pretty creepy," Téa replied.

Marik took out his phone, looking the group text over himself. "The Eternal Rest Coffin Company?!"

Seto reached and pulled his laptop to him from where it was sitting on the end table in front of the couch. "I'll look it up."

Mokuba watched as Seto typed into the search engine and soon brought up the company's website. "See anything, Seto?"

"Nothing that looks particularly incriminating." Seto scrolled through the main page, then went to the About Us tab. "It seems to be a perfectly normal business . . . except for this." He frowned, tapping the screen.

Mokuba leaned over to read. "The owner's name is Marcel Germaine!" he exclaimed.

"Germaine . . . like Angelique's last name," Téa gasped. "What if he's Dr. Raven?!"

"There's no picture, unfortunately," Seto said. "But why would a knick-knack shop owner really be a more successful businessman in disguise?"

"Why would a knick-knack shop owner be a corrupt voodoo priest in disguise?" Marik grunted.

"Why do corrupt voodoo priests exist at all?" Seto muttered.

Marik started typing on his phone, looking for articles about either the company or the owner. "Here's something," he said after a moment. "Lector's father is locked in a power bid for the coffin company."

"What?!" Seto exclaimed.

"So he wants it himself?" Téa blinked.

"Yes. He's put in three offers for it so far, but Marcel Germaine keeps turning him down because he doesn't want to sell. And he _is_ the supplier." Marik scrolled through the article.

"That's not an unusual situation in business," Seto said. "Ordinarily there wouldn't be anything wrong with it at all. But in this case it could be different. If Marcel Germaine is Dr. Raven, this could be another reason why he's angry with Lector's father."

"What a complicated mess," Téa groaned.

Marik went back to his text messages and scrolled through a new thread that had been developing. "Everyone is going out looking for Joey and Tristan. Lector says to leave the French Quarter to the adults." His eyes darkened. "In my case, however, I don't know if there would really be much there that I haven't already seen in some form. As the leader of the Rare Hunters, I ran into a lot of unsavory characters and scenarios."

"I would still rather you didn't go there," Ishizu said as she entered the living room with a tray of hot chocolate.

"I will go," Rishid said. "There are plenty of other parts of the city you can check, Marik."

"But if they could literally be anywhere in the city, how will we ever find them?!" Mokuba despaired.

Seto pondered for a moment. "I have an idea." He started typing into his laptop. "I'll see if I can trace them via Wheeler's cellphone. Tristan still doesn't have one, does he?"

"No," Téa sighed. "Hopefully they're still together. . . ." She blinked, really focusing on Seto's declaration. "Uh . . . is that legal?"

"I have connections," Seto responded without looking up.

"Okay then," Téa sighed, opting not to question it further. They had to find Joey and Tristan as soon as possible, especially since it looked like they had been taken against their will.

Either that or they were foolishly following someone on foot or by stowing away in their vehicle. With Joey, Téa thought wryly to herself, almost anything was possible.

xxxx

Crump looked up as Nesbitt came to the bedroom doorway.

"There's more trouble," Nesbitt growled. "Two of the kids are missing and everyone is spreading out through the city to find them."

"Missing?!" Crump echoed. "How the heck did that happen?!"

"It's Joseph, isn't it," Johnson sighed. "And perhaps his friend Tristan?"

"Yes," Nesbitt scowled. "And it looks like there may have been foul play."

"Oh great." Crump started to push himself up on the mattress. "Are we gonna go help look?"

Johnson gave him a stern look. "You really shouldn't," he objected. "You should stay here and keep warm."

"I won't get any warmer!" Crump retorted. "But maybe we shouldn't go because of y- . . ."

Johnson quickly waved him off and interrupted. "At least one of us should go, I think."

Nesbitt grunted. "I'll do it then." He disappeared from the doorway.

Johnson sighed and slumped back. "The two of us had better wait here," he said to Crump.

Crump folded his arms and frowned. "I still wish you'd let me tell the others what's going on," he complained. "What about when the cat's out of the bag, as it will be eventually? They're all gonna be upset that we didn't tell!"

"But hopefully they'll understand why," Johnson said quietly. "And maybe if nothing's wrong with me, we shouldn't tell them at all."

Crump muttered under his breath.

xxxx

Serenity was tense as she, Duke, and David wandered down an old street lined with small, local shops. They had been unable to get the car through because the street was roped off for another parade in the morning, so instead they determined to walk around for a while, calling for their loved ones.

"I just don't know what we're going to do!" Serenity cried. She was practically hysterical. Joey was lost in the city, didn't answer the phone, and the thought of combing the entire metropolis was overwhelming. How would they ever find him and Tristan, especially before something drastic happened?

. . . If it hadn't happened already. What if they were both badly hurt? . . . Or worse. . . .

Duke kept a firm arm around her shoulders. "Above all, we have to stay calm," he told her. "We're not going to get anywhere if we freak out. Although I know it's hard."

"Maybe we should have stayed near the warehouse district," David said.

"Some of the others are looking there," Duke said. "I really don't think they're still there."

"But where?!" Serenity wailed.

Suddenly a thought sprang into Duke's mind. It was a horrible, chilling, eerie thought, but one that unfortunately made some semblance of sense—particularly with the sick mind they were dealing with in the form of Dr. Raven.

David caught sight of the look in Duke's eyes. He definitely had an idea, but one that he was reluctant to say around Serenity. For all his talk of not sheltering her, he didn't like getting her worried unnecessarily either, and she was already worrying necessarily. He didn't want to add more.

"Hey," Serenity said suddenly. "There's a woman going down the street. We haven't seen anyone here since we started walking."

They all looked. Indeed, a woman in a powder blue dress was heading towards a building on the corner. A parasol was slung over one shoulder—a strange sight at night.

"Excuse me!" Serenity called, hurrying forward with a wave. "Have you seen a blond boy with a Brooklyn accent? Or a brown-haired boy with a pointed pompadour?"

The woman didn't respond. Instead she walked through the wall.

The three youths just stood and stared for a long moment. Then the silence was broken by Serenity shrieking. "That was a ghost! We can't find Joey and Tristan and we just saw a ghost!" She sobbed, slumping against Duke as she trembled.

Duke held her close, trying not to show how shaken he was by what had just happened. "Hey, it's okay, Serenity," he said. "Apparently that ghost didn't mean anyone any harm. And . . ." He sighed. "Well, I do have an idea. Maybe we should start checking the cemeteries for Joey and Tristan."

Serenity went stiff. "What do you mean?!"

"Maybe they were dumped there by Dr. Raven or someone," Duke said. "Maybe it's a long shot, but . . . there were two coffins in that warehouse . . . and now those are gone as well as Joey and Tristan."

Now Serenity went completely pale. "Oh no!"

David looked a little sick. "That's a really dark train of thought you've got going there."

"But it's possible," Duke said. "And we shouldn't ignore the possibility."

Serenity shuddered and looked up. "No, we shouldn't," she agreed. "We have to check everywhere. So let's start checking cemeteries!"

xxxx

The jazzy music pierced Joey's consciousness. He stirred, rolling over in the soft bed and pulling the pillow down farther. "What the heck. . . . Why's this pillow so small?" he mumbled. "And who's playing that music?! Come on, cut it out! Can't you see I'm trying to sleep?!"

The music persisted. Finally, annoyed, Joey sat up with the intent of shutting it off.

That was when he saw that the only light above him was a full moon.

"I'm outside?! What kind of a bed is this?!" Joey looked down and from side to side. It was an awfully small bed . . . almost perfectly contoured to his body, in fact. . . . And there was a lid hanging open to the side. . . .

A scream tore from his lips. _"I'm in a coffin! I'm IN a COFFIN!"_

He leaped out in horror. Now everything was coming back: the voodoo ritual in the warehouse, the coffins, he and Tristan passing out when their pictures were stabbed. . . .

"Tristan?!" He looked around with a start. Tristan was lying in a second coffin, his hands on his chest. The moonlight captured the end of the box, where TRISTAN TAYLOR was embossed in gold lettering.

Joey's mouth dropped open. He spun around to look at the coffin he had just vacated. Sure enough, JOSEPH WHEELER was printed on the edge of it.

"Okay, now that is just sick!" Joey boomed. He ran over to Tristan and shook him on the shoulder. "Come on, wake up! We've gotta get out of here!"

Now he could also see the source of the music. A small CD player was perched on a nearby bench, playing _When the Saints Go Marching In_ on Repeat.

Finally Tristan stirred. "Joey, turn off the music," he mumbled. "I wanna sleep. . . ."

"No, you don't!" Joey snapped. "Tristan, you're in a coffin! Get up!"

"I'm . . . _what?!_ " Tristan was up like a shot. Then the pain in his head stabbed into him and he groaned, reaching a hand to cover it. "Oh . . . I feel like I was chloroformed or something."

"Or something," Joey growled. "Don't you remember, Tristan?! The creepy lady chanting 'Where are the children'? The coffins?!"

"Oh man!" Tristan looked down at his surroundings. "They put us in them?!"

"You got it. And then they stuck that CD over there. I think they play that song at funerals down here or something. Come on, let's go!" Joey begged.

Tristan shakily climbed out of the coffin. "So . . . where are we? This doesn't look like the docks. . . ."

". . . No, it doesn't." Joey looked around. He had been too focused on the horror of waking up in a coffin with his name on it to really pay attention before, but now he was seeing a lot of strange and large box-shaped objects. They were everywhere, on every side. Pathways cut in between some of them, such as the one he and Tristan had been placed on.

". . . Um, Joey?" Tristan moved closer to his friend.

"Don't say it, Tristan. Don't say it if you don't want a punch in the mouth!" Joey trembled, his horror increasing as it became inherently clear where they were.

"I'm pretty sure we're in a cemetery," Tristan continued. "And what's worse . . . some of it looks really run-down. There's a tomb over there that's been broken into."

"Oh no!" Joey wailed.

"I was researching New Orleans on the flight over here," Tristan said. "One of the most well-known cemeteries is where that voodoo queen Marie Laveau is supposedly buried, St. Louis Cemetery No. 1."

"Supposedly?!" Joey snapped.

"Some people think she's buried in a different one and that it's her daughter buried here," Tristan explained. "Anyway . . ." He swallowed hard, his own fears coming into his eyes and his voice. "That cemetery had so much trouble with vandals, they shut it down to the public except on tours."

"And you think that's where we are?!" Joey shrieked.

"I think it's a good possibility," Tristan said. "And what's worse . . ."

"How could it get worse?!"

"People say it's the most haunted cemetery in the States."

Joey and Tristan looked at each other for a long moment.

Something creaked very nearby.

The boys screamed, flying into each other's arms in utter terror.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

The Eternal Rest Coffin Company was located near the docks, close to the French Quarter. As Gansley pulled in at the front of the building, another vehicle was driving in from another angle. It parked, and Yami Bakura got out, followed by Bakura.

Lector looked to them in surprise. "I'm sure Gansley and I can handle this."

"Most likely so, but we weren't that far away. And I thought that if the place was closed, you might need a little help to get in and see the records," Yami Bakura sneered.

Bakura scratched his cheek. "Under the circumstances, I hope the Ring would let him. . . ."

"Bah! I don't need the Ring for this. You're forgetting I was the King of Thieves. I had to open all kinds of locks." Yami Bakura folded his arms, sneering a bit.

"Not modern locks, though," Bakura said.

"I'd still be able to do it," Yami Bakura insisted.

Lector tried the door. "Well, I appreciate the offer, but it looks like we won't be needing your services. It's unlocked." He hauled it open and stepped inside. Gansley and the Bakuras quickly followed.

The reception area was dimly lit, as reception areas sometimes were after hours. No people were visibly or audibly on the premises at all. The quartet exchanged confused and suspicious frowns.

"Hello?" Bakura finally called.

At last a shadowy figure appeared in the doorway presumably leading to the hall. "Why, Mr. Leichter," an unfamiliar man's voice greeted. "We weren't expecting you."

"I'm not your supplier, Sir," Lector replied, stepping forward. "I'm Démas Lector . . . his son."

"Oh." A sharp intake of breath. "Of course. Yes. . . . You're . . . pardon me, too young to be your father." The man stepped into the light. Middle-aged, light red hair, balding . . . unfamiliar in every way. His nametag read _Albert Cormier._ "What can we do for you?"

"We're trying to locate two young men," Lector said.

Bakura went through the pictures on his phone. Finally coming to one of Joey and Tristan being silly, he held it up.

Mr. Cormier came closer to see it. "And why do you believe anyone here would know of their whereabouts?"

"I realize it sounds ludicrous, Sir, but I'm afraid you're the only lead we have," Lector said. "You see, they went missing at the warehouse owned by my father, along with two of your coffins."

". . . I see." Mr. Cormier straightened, raising an eyebrow. "And why would anyone steal our coffins?"

"We had hoped you would have some idea," Gansley said.

"Our business hasn't been affected by the strange thefts among Mr. Leichter's packages," Mr. Cormier replied.

"But you know of them, apparently," Gansley said.

"He didn't want word to get out at all," Lector said, folding his arms. "How do you know?"

"Word travels fast when a business one is associated with is having trouble," Mr. Cormier smoothly explained.

"You're apparently affected by the thefts now," Yami Bakura growled. "Do you have any idea who might be behind this or why?"

"No, I do not," Mr. Cormier insisted.

"Some people believe my father is stealing the packages himself," Lector said. "Do you think that's possible?"

Mr. Cormier looked to him in surprise. "Why, don't you k- . . . oh, that's right, he disowned you. No, I can't picture your father being behind the thefts. He's always been a pillar of society."

"Yes, and that is likely why he disowned his son," Yami Bakura grunted. "He feared a bad reflection would be cast on him."

Lector flushed. "Nevermind that!" he exclaimed.

Gansley laid a hand on Lector's shoulder. "Is there anything you can tell us about these specific coffins? Such as, were they being sent for a particular client?"

"Well . . ." Mr. Cormier hesitated, but finally went to the filing cabinet behind the receptionist's desk and searched through the files. "I suppose for Mr. Leichter's son, we can give out that information. Here it is." He flipped open the folder. "The purchaser was a Dr. Raven. And he requested them to be inscribed with the names 'Joseph Wheeler' and 'Tristan Taylor.'"

Dead silence.

"What?!" Bakura finally gasped.

"Those are the names of the missing boys!" Lector burst out. "How long ago was this order placed?!"

Stunned, Mr. Cormier quickly finished scanning the invoice. "Two weeks ago," he reported.

"He knew two weeks ago that he would want coffins made up for Joseph Wheeler and Tristan Taylor?!" Gansley cried. " _They_ didn't know two weeks ago that they were coming here!"

"Ah. Well, then . . ." Mr. Cormier closed the folder and slipped it back in the drawer, looking uncomfortable. "Dr. Raven is supposed to be a _vodun_ priest. Maybe he received the information from . . . the other side?"

"If he is a voodoo priest, he isn't using the art for good as he is supposed to," Yami Bakura snapped. "He wanted those coffins for ill purposes, no doubt."

Mr. Cormier gave him a hard look. "Are you sure?"

"Dr. Raven is currently wanted by the police for questioning regarding the matter of two people nearly being frozen to death in a restaurant freezer," Lector said, his voice clipped. "One of those people is one of our dear friends." He gestured to himself and Gansley.

"And the other is one of our friends," Bakura added, indicating himself and Yami Bakura.

"Oh my goodness." Mr. Cormier paled, seeming honestly shocked.

"We're afraid he may have taken the boys because they learned something they shouldn't have," Yami Bakura said. "Or perhaps to make an example of them. If he's going to put them in the coffins, then you surely realize time is of the essence."

"You think he might close the coffins and leave them to die in there?!" Mr. Cormier cried in horror.

"Possibly," Yami Bakura said. "Or it could be a childish scare tactic. Either way, we need to locate them without delay."

"Did he say at all where he planned to take the coffins when he had them?" Lector asked.

"No, he didn't," Mr. Cormier frowned. "I could give you a list of all the cemeteries in New Orleans. . . ."

"What about this," Gansley interjected. "Do you have a record of where Dr. Raven may own a tomb?"

"Unfortunately not," Mr. Cormier said. "We've never done business with him before."

"Yet you indicated you know him," Gansley said.

"I know he exists," Mr. Cormier corrected. "I believe he's distantly related to the owner of this establishment."

They stared at him, stunned.

"Marcel Germaine," Mr. Cormier elaborated. "I'm sure he mentioned Dr. Raven being a second cousin thrice removed or some such."

"How convenient," Yami Bakura grunted.

Lector's phone dinged with an incoming text. "Excuse me a moment." He quickly took it out, hoping it would be news about Joey and Tristan. It wasn't, but it was definitely something he needed to know. "I just received a message that my father has been trying to buy your company," he said in disbelief.

Gansley stared. "Do you know why he wants it?" he asked Mr. Cormier, who looked helpless.

"I guess he just thought it would be a good investment," he said. "Mr. Germaine doesn't want to sell."

"Everything only grows more complicated," Bakura sighed.

". . . On second thought, please give us that list of all the cemeteries in New Orleans," Lector requested. "If he's planning to make examples out of Mr. Wheeler and Mr. Taylor, he's not going to hide them away in a tomb. He'll want them left out someplace where they'll be seen."

Mr. Cormier gave a shaky nod. "Come with me, all of you, and I'll get you that list."

They followed him down the hall.

"For that matter, he might not put them in a cemetery at all," Yami Bakura growled. "He might deliver them to the hotel."

"Oh!" Bakura exclaimed in horror.

"Then those who are still there will find them," Gansley pointed out. "We should work with other possibilities."

". . . Of course," Bakura shakily nodded.

xxxx

Joey was still a complete basket case.

"We're in a cemetery!" he screamed. "Not just that, but the most haunted cemetery in the country! Look, there goes an orb!" He pointed to a floating light in horror. "There's another one!"

Tristan, despite being terrified as well, was trying to stay more calm. "Joey, you've gotta get hold of yourself, man!" he cried. "How are we going to find the way out if all you can do is wake up every ghost in the place with your yelling?"

Joey swallowed hard. ". . . That's a good point. Okay. Calm . . . gotta stay calm. . . ." He exhaled slowly. "Did you learn anything else about this place?"

"Well, if it really is St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, it's only a square block," Tristan said. "I'm not sure whether it's that one or not. Let's just start walking and see if we can find the way out. Oh! And do you have your phone? You can call the others for help!"

Joey perked up. "That's the best idea yet!" He grabbed his phone. But his enthusiasm quickly died when he made a new and discouraging discovery. "Oh man, the battery's dead!"

Tristan threw his hands in the air. "What am I going to do with you?"

"Hey, if you'd ever get yourself a cellphone, we'd have another chance in a mess like this," Joey snapped.

". . . Good point. Okay, let's go with plan A and start walking." Tristan took a few steps and stopped. "And stay together!" he added.

"Ohhh, no arguments from me!" Joey scrambled to walk alongside him.

For a few feet all was well. But then a new sound reached Joey's ears as the sound of the CD player faded. "Uh, Tristan?" He grabbed his friend's wrist. "Do you hear anything?"

"Besides your knees knocking and your teeth chattering? No," Tristan shot back.

"Well, listen already!" Joey yelled.

Tristan quieted. The more they traveled along the path, the more distinctive the sounds became. "It's . . . words," he realized. "Someone's talking."

"Who?!" Joey demanded.

Tristan strained to listen. It was easy to hear the whispers, but not so easy to make out the words. At least, not until they passed a particular mausoleum.

" _This is where I live,"_ a voice told him.

Tristan's blood ran cold. Without realizing it, he had stopped walking.

"Tristan?!" Joey stared at him. "Come on, let's keep going!"

"Didn't you hear that?!" Tristan exclaimed.

Joey went pale. "I was hoping you hadn't!" He clutched Tristan's wrist and practically flew over the pathway. _"Let's get out of here!"_

By now Tristan was terrified too. He didn't even bother telling Joey to slow down.

The more frightened they were, the more they couldn't figure out what to do or where to go. They ran up one path and down another, passing mausoleum after mausoleum with no indication of the way out in sight.

"How the heck can one square block seem so huge?!" Tristan finally cried.

"When there's ghosts everywhere!" Joey wailed.

They finally slowed to a halt by a strangely shaped tomb that neither of them had expected to see in New Orleans. "A pyramid?" Joey blinked repeatedly. "Did whoever was buried here think they were a Pharaoh or something?"

Tristan stared at the name across it. "I don't even know how to pronounce that."

Joey shuddered. "Well, nevermind. Let's just keep going." He looked around hopelessly. Some of the nearby tombs looked eerily old and in disrepair, a sharp contrast to the apparently recent pyramid. The more run-down a tomb looked, the more terrified Joey felt of it.

Tristan tugged on Joey's wrist now. "Then let's go!" he said. "Why hang around here?"

"No reason," Joey trembled. "No reason at all."

They tried to walk normally for a while. Everything was quiet again and there hadn't been any more orbs, although neither of them felt like they could relax. When they passed tombs that had clearly been vandalized, Joey especially started to shake once more.

"You know the ghosts must be mad whenever this happens," he quavered. "What if some of them think we're up to no good like that?"

"If they've been hanging around here all the time, they'll have to know that we're not trying to do anything wrong," Tristan replied, and prayed he was right.

Of course, as luck would have it, eventually they found their way to a very old and run-down tomb covered in series of Xs hand-written on every side. Various beads and other trinkets were both hanging on the tomb and laying on the ground around it.

"Oh no," Joey moaned. "This one is really creepy."

"You said it," Tristan gulped. "This is where the voodoo queen is supposedly buried." He took several steps back. "People come here and ask her for things and put the Xs to seal their requests or something."

Joey looked about ready to cry. "I don't wanna ask her for anything!"

"You know, this is probably exactly how Dr. Raven wants us to react," Tristan said. "He wants to scare us so much that we'll pack up and go home. Everybody else must be going nuts looking for us." He cringed. _Poor Serenity. . . ._

"Well, honestly, he's doing a bang-up job!" Joey exclaimed. "I'm ready to call it quits!"

"So what about stopping the 'great evil' Shadi warned Atem about?" Tristan countered. "You're not going to help with that anymore?"

"How do we stop a corrupt voodoo priest?!" Joey retorted. "We're messing with stuff we don't understand in the least!"

"It's not like he's the first bad guy we've ever met who used dark magic!" Tristan exclaimed.

"No, but no one else has knocked us out with dark magic and stuck us in the most haunted cemetery in the States!" Joey shot back.

"Maybe he didn't even knock us out with dark magic," Tristan said. "When I woke up, I felt like I'd been chloroformed."

"We don't even know what it's like to be chloroformed!" Joey yelled.

"We both smelled something weird right before we passed out," Tristan reminded him.

"That could have been a voodoo potion!" Joey said.

Tristan sighed. "Well, whatever. Do you really want to stand around arguing about it in front of Marie Laveau's possible tomb?"

"No!" Joey retorted. "I don't want to do anything in front of Marie Laveau's possible tomb except leave!"

"Good answer," said Tristan.

Again they took up the seemingly impossible task of winding around the maze of tombs in search of the way out. No matter how they tried, they couldn't seem to find where the wall was at all.

"We must have been stuck right in the middle of the place," Tristan frowned.

"You'd think we could find the edges," Joey retorted. "Maybe the ghosts are keeping them from us!"

"I read about the place being like a maze," Tristan said. "We've just been freaking out so much that we can't focus enough to find the way out."

"Well, how do we not freak out in a place like this?!" Joey snapped.

"I can help you both."

They jumped a mile at the sudden voice. A man was coming over to them from between two tombs.

Joey blinked rapidly, stunned and bewildered. "What the heck are you doing in here in the middle of the night?"

Instead of answering the question, the man said, "You might not find the way out at night for a long time yet without a guide."

"Oh," Tristan blinked. "So you're one of the tour guides. Kind of late to be hanging around here, but we're both really grateful you came along."

"No kidding!" Joey nodded.

"How did you get here?" the man asked as they walked down a grassy path and under several trees.

"We were dumped here by some creep called Dr. Raven," Tristan said bitterly. "We've been investigating him and he didn't like it."

"Have you heard of him?" Joey asked hopefully.

"I don't think so," the man replied.

"He's some corrupt voodoo priest jerk," Joey said.

"And you're investigating him?" The man looked fascinated. "So you're detectives?"

"Well . . . not really," Tristan said. "We came out here to help some guys and also because . . . well, nevermind." He didn't really want to discuss being told about a "great evil" with a stranger. "Anyway, we got mixed up with this creep and he tried to kill two people today, so we were trying to get something on him to take to the police and he surprised us."

"He did some creepy voodoo ritual and stabbed our pictures in coffins," Joey added. "Then we passed out and woke up here in the coffins!"

"That's horrible," the man exclaimed. "But why didn't he just kill both of you?"

Joey and Tristan looked at each other.

"Maybe he thought we'd die of fright in here," Tristan said, not entirely sure he was kidding.

"Tristan says it's the most haunted cemetery in the States," Joey gulped. "Is that really true?!"

"You couldn't prove it by me; I don't have any other cemeteries to compare it to," the man said. "But I can definitely tell you that the cemetery's moniker of 'The City of the Dead' is accurate. There are many here who are bound to something that keeps them on Earth instead of being able to move on. For some, it's the sadness of not having a proper burial place. For others, it's the anger of something unresolved in life or dying before they were ready. Sometimes it's just the love of the city."

Joey was bewildered again. "No proper burial place? What the heck? We're surrounded by burial places!"

"Ah yes, but some people didn't have the money or prestige or family for a tomb. There's a potter's field here for the poor and destitute. Some people weren't satisfied with that at all."

"You can't blame them, I guess," Tristan frowned. "But so they're stuck here forever?"

"Indefinitely, let's say," the man said. "Hopefully someday . . . well, here's the gate."

"Yes!" Joey exclaimed. Beyond the gate he could see the glittering lights of the city. "We're finally home free, baby!"

"Can you make it over alright?" the man asked.

"Yeah, I think so," Tristan said. "But can't you just unlock it for us?"

"I'm afraid not." The man stepped back, placing one hand over the other.

"And you're staying?" Tristan said in further surprise.

"Yes." Now there was a sad, almost wistful tone to their rescuer's voice.

Joey stared at him and finally shrugged. "Well . . . suit yourself, I guess. I say you're crazy to wanna be here!" He gripped the iron bars and started to climb. "Thanks again for your help!"

"Yeah, seriously," Tristan agreed. He started up the other side of the gate.

Both of them made it over safely and dropped to the ground. As they turned to say their goodbyes, they both saw the mysterious man turn transparent and then vanish completely into the night. The boys stood stock-still for a long moment.

"Um, Joey?" Tristan finally spoke.

"Don't say it, Tristan," Joey ordered.

"We were just helped by a ghost."

Joey's knees started knocking again. "B-But . . . he was just like anyone else!" he exclaimed. "I thought we were talking to a living person! There wasn't any indication we weren't!"

"Ghosts _did_ used to be alive," Tristan pointed out. "I guess some of them still remember their humanity after they pass on. They're not all creep shows. Frankly, right now, it's a living person we really need to be afraid of, not a ghost."

"That's a good point. Okay, let's try to find our way back to civilization!" Joey cried. "Everybody else is probably tearing the city apart looking for us!"

"No kidding," Tristan agreed. "It doesn't look like we're too far from city streets. Come on!" He grabbed Joey's wrist and started down the road.

Joey was certainly willing to follow.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

Lector was both thoughtful and angry as the group departed the Eternal Rest Coffin Company, cemetery list in hand.

"So my father wants the company that he supplies coffins for, the owner doesn't want to sell, and Dr. Raven may be said owner's second cousin," he snarled. "Not to mention he somehow knew two weeks ago that he wanted to set up this sickening stunt!"

"Are you going to try talking to your father again?" Bakura asked.

"Oh, what's the use?" Lector said in disgust. "He'll just insist there's nothing wrong with him wanting the company. Anyway, he kicked me out again."

"What about some of your other siblings?" Gansley asked. "Your brothers and your older sister. Would they know anything about what's going on?"

"If they did, I doubt they'd tell me," Lector said. "You saw how even Marie was a little standoffish with me when we talked to her. Evangeline is probably the only one who really still loves me."

"Not even your mother?" Yami Bakura frowned.

"She's very old-fashioned," Lector said. "Her husband is the man of the house and she abides by his decisions."

"But Evangeline said on that recording that she accused him of using you," Bakura said. "It sounded as though she was upset by it."

"And yet she hasn't made one appearance while I've been here," Lector retorted. "She cares more about catering to my father's wishes than she cares about my safety." He opened the car door. "Anyway, let's not worry about my upsidedown family life right now; we need to find those boys. We're not too far from the St. Louis cemeteries; let's start there."

"You know, if they were at one of those and managed to get out, they'll probably be near the French Quarter," Bakura realized.

"I know," Lector sighed. "Let's hurry."

Everyone climbed into their respective vehicles and drove off.

xxxx

Seto was frustrated. So far he hadn't had any success tracking Joey via his cellphone, so at last in exasperation he called the police station to find out what else Angelique might have said. It wasn't much, he was told, but she did want to talk to him. Since she wasn't under arrest and was merely in protective custody, she was allowed to come to the phone.

"Mr. Kaiba?" she said when she got on. "I've been thinking about something ever since you and Mr. Crump were rescued from the freezer. I know this is probably going to sound insane, but I have an old Egyptian box that my great-great-grandmother owned. There's a picture carved on the lid that looks like you and Mr. Crump and the other businessmen."

"What?!" Seto said in disbelief. "Not more Egyptian nonsense!"

"She always said that she was guarding the box until the time was right," Angelique told him, "and that she believed when it was, whoever was currently guarding the box would know it. She said that the man who gave it to her said that only the descendants of the people on that box would be able to open it and use whatever was inside."

"This is getting ridiculous," Seto said. "I just can't escape the paranormal wherever I go!"

Téa, who was close enough to hear the conversation, blinked in surprise. "Kaiba, what if this is why you were 'vital' to come along? Maybe Shadi knew about that box. The way things go, maybe he's the one who gave it to her!"

"Ugh." Seto rolled his eyes. ". . . Does your uncle know about this box?"

"I don't think so," Angelique said slowly. "He's not supposed to, anyway. My great-great-grandmother said it was a secret to be kept only among the people in each generation who were guarding the box."

"Where is the box now?" Seto grudgingly asked.

"I have it in a secret compartment in my house," Angelique said. "I'll bring it to you tonight. It wouldn't hurt to see if you and the Big Five can open it, would it?"

". . . Who knows." Seto scowled more. "Alright, we'd better check it out."

"Good." Angelique sounded relieved. "How are you and Mr. Crump doing?"

"We're fine," Seto said. "Although I was doing a lot better before we had this conversation."

"I honestly understand how you feel," Angelique said. "I don't like believing in the paranormal either."

When they hung up, Seto leaned forward and stared at the floor. "It's always something," he complained. "Every time I think my life is normal, something happens to turn it upsidedown again. I don't want to have to deal with magic left and right!"

"I guess Yugi would say it's our destiny because of our ancestors," Mokuba said.

"Well, I'm sick of destiny!" Seto retorted. "Why should what my priest and his followers did 3,000 years ago have anything to do with me and the Big Five today?"

"Maybe because even with that many generations in between, family still passes on their heirlooms?" Téa suggested. "It sounds like they left behind something really important that they intended only for their modern-day descendants to have. Actually, that's pretty special."

"I just wonder what the Big Five will say when we tell them their ancestors were completely loyal to my ancestor," Seto snorted. "That was one thing the Pharaoh withheld from them. I guess he thought it would be too much for them to take in."

"I guess it is pretty weird," Mokuba said. "But it's kind of nice too. You guys all had that connection because of our ancestors, and even after all the problems we've had with them in the present-day, they're starting to turn their lives around and be helpful allies. Since I always liked Lector, I kind of like that he's important in the big picture like this."

"Lector's got enough on his mind already without this," Seto objected.

"Yeah, but we'll have to tell them," Mokuba said.

"I know. Meanwhile, we still need to find Joey and Tristan," Seto grumbled.

"Maybe I should call Yugi and find out if they've had any luck," Téa worried.

"If they'd had any luck, he would have called or texted you," Seto pointed out.

Téa's shoulders slumped. "That's true. I just feel so helpless! . . . Where could they be?!"

Seto had no answers.

xxxx

Joey and Tristan had indeed managed to wander into the French Quarter. Currently they were traveling up one of the many streets filled with jazz clubs and bars. Despite the late hour, musicians were still on street corners and crowds were gathering to listen to them. Up ahead, two women were performing a wild dance to one musician's saxophone.

"Nice," Tristan commented.

"You punk," Joey grunted, but he was clearly ogling the dancers as well.

"We'd better try to find a phone so we can call the others," Tristan said.

"Yeah." Joey looked up and down the block. "The only thing is, where the heck do they put payphones these days?"

"Maybe we'll have to go in one of those places and see if there's a phone on a counter we can use," Tristan suggested.

Joey wasn't listening. Now he was staring ahead to where people had gathered both on and under a Spanish-style balcony and were yelling and laughing raucously. "What the heck's going on there?!" he exclaimed.

Tristan stared too. "It . . . looks like they're flashing."

A piece of clothing soared over their heads.

"What the . . . ?!" Joey stared. "Isn't that the top one of those dancers was wearing?!"

Tristan went red. "What have we got into?"

"Come and join us, boys," one of the dancers purred.

Joey and Tristan exchanged a long look.

"Uh . . . thanks for the invitation, but we've got somewhere we've gotta be," Tristan hedged, trying not to look in the dancers' or the flashers' general direction as he attempted to inconspicuously flee to the opposite side of the street.

"Yeah, that's right," Joey agreed with a wave. "We're meeting friends. I think we took a wrong turn somewhere. See you around!" He tore after Tristan.

"Oh brother," he sighed, holding a hand to his heart as they hurried back the way they had come. "I never wanna bring Serenity down here."

"No kidding," Tristan exclaimed. "This city really does get wild. I knew what I read say to stay out of the French Quarter if you wanted a family-friendly experience for Mardi Gras, but I didn't realize we were so close to it coming out of that cemetery!"

"So what the heck are we gonna do?!" Joey cried. "We've gotta find a phone somewhere!"

Now it was Tristan who wasn't paying attention. He was focused on a car heading their way. "Hey!" he exclaimed. "I think that's the car the Big Five have been using!"

Joey ran past him and waved at the car. "Hey! Help!"

The vehicle pulled over to the curb and the window rolled down. "What are you kids doing over here?" Gansley growled.

"It's a long story," Joey said. He grabbed the handle of the back door. "Just get us out of here, will ya?!"

Lector sighed. "Get in. Just be careful of Gansley's cane back there." As Joey and Tristan scrambled in, he asked, "Where have you been?! Everyone is worried sick!"

"We got zinged by Dr. Raven's voodoo!" Joey exclaimed. "We both woke up in coffins with our names on them in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1!"

"Then we got away, but we ended up in the French Quarter here," Tristan said.

Lector shook his head. "Boys. . . ." He took out his phone. "I'll let everyone know you're safe."

Joey relaxed. "Hey, thanks." He paused as something suddenly occurred to him. "Wait a minute! Have you guys been out looking for us?"

"Well, we're not out joyriding," Gansley grunted.

"Almost everyone is looking," Lector said as he typed. "Crump and Mr. Kaiba stayed back, of course, and a couple of people stayed with them. But everyone else is out."

"Well . . . gee, thanks," Joey said, feeling humbled. "You've been worried too?"

Lector grunted. "Naturally we didn't want anything to happen to you boys. Yes, we've been worried too. Crump was even going to get up to look. Johnson and Nesbitt convinced him to stay down, or so Nesbitt told us after he went out to look."

Joey and Tristan exchanged a stunned look. The Big Five truly had changed. Lector had already been their ally and friend, and now the others certainly were as well.

"I hope you didn't see anything too disturbing before we found you," Lector said.

"Mostly we were trying _not_ to see," Tristan said, shifting uncomfortably. "How is the stuff that goes on there even legal?!"

Lector shook his head. "That part of the city is a different world. There's a lot of rich history there that's good, but it isn't a good place for underage tourists during Mardi Gras."

"No kidding! Man, I hope Serenity isn't anywhere near there," Joey worried.

"She says she isn't," Lector said as a text came back from her. "But she saw a ghost walk through the wall." He glanced up at Joey. "Most residents here just accept the ghosts as a part of everyday living."

"Are you serious?!" Joey exclaimed. "I am never moving here!"

"Well," Tristan said, "at least we were helped out by a ghost."

". . . True," Joey relented.

"Serenity also says she's very glad you're both alright, and she wants to hear the story in every detail when we get back," Lector said.

". . . Maybe _almost_ every detail," Tristan said, knowing there were a few things he would prefer to omit.

"Yeah," Joey nodded in agreement. "That sounds about right."

xxxx

At the hotel, Johnson's phone rang just as he heard the door to the suite open. He snapped it up and tried to retreat to the farthest corner of the room he was sharing with Crump to talk.

"Hello?" he almost demanded. The caller I.D. said it was Seto's doctor.

"Hello, Mr. Johnson," the doctor greeted him. "I've finished analyzing the powder. You'll be relieved to know you haven't been poisoned. Apparently that woman was just trying to scare you."

"Well, what was it?!" Johnson asked, even as relief and a joy he hadn't realized he could experience swept over him.

"It was astragalus," the doctor reported.

" _What?!"_ Johnson cried in disbelief.

"Just a harmless herb used for healing cuts and boosting the immune system," the doctor reported. "I wanted to get you told immediately, despite the late hour."

"Yes." Johnson drew a shaking breath. "Thank you."

Crump was staring as he hung up the phone. "Well?!"

"I'm alright." Johnson started to smile as that truth really sunk in. "I'm really alright. . . ."

"What are you talking about?!" came Lector's voice from the doorway.

Crump cringed. "Oh boy. . . ."

Johnson went over to Lector, who was coming in and silently demanding explanations with his eyes. Gansley and Nesbitt, confused and also wanting to know, came in right behind him.

"When I found Crump and Mr. Kaiba in the freezer, Dr. Raven's assistant randomly threw some kind of a powder at me," Johnson said. "I didn't know whether it could be poison or not, especially since Dr. Raven had ordered Angelique to poison anyone who came to rescue the prisoners. Kaiba's doctor has been analyzing the powder and finally learned it wasn't poison at all."

Lector stared at him. Before he could speak, Nesbitt summed up both of their feelings. "And when were you going to tell us about this?!"

Johnson looked down. "Maybe never," he admitted. "Crump only knows because he was there when it happened. I . . . I didn't want to add something else for everyone to worry about. . . ."

"So all this evening you've been afraid you might die?" Gansley realized.

". . . That's a good way of putting it," Johnson said.

"I was really sure he was okay," Crump said. "But of course, we were both worrying anyway."

Lector finally found his voice. "We could have lost you and we wouldn't have even known that was a possibility until it was too late?!" he boomed at Johnson.

"I told him that," Crump said. "But it was still no go; he wasn't gonna add anything more to what you were already dealing with."

"It was very unselfish, actually," Gansley quietly told Lector and Nesbitt.

Nesbitt whipped around to look at him. "Wouldn't you have wanted to know?!"

"Of course I would have wanted to know." An edge crept into Gansley's voice. "I wish we had been told. But we've all been so upset since Crump went missing, and then there was something new to be angry about when we learned how Lector's father deliberately used him. Johnson saw all of that and he chose not to hurt us anymore than we already had been."

"I would have told you had there really been poison," Johnson said softly. "But until I knew, I didn't want to give you something else to think about when it might be a false alarm."

Lector came and towered over him, his expression unreadable. Although Johnson tried not to feel intimidated, it was hard not to. Lector was the tallest and strongest man among them, while Johnson had the smallest frame. Still, he knew Lector wouldn't hurt him.

Without warning Lector pulled Johnson into a tight hug. "Don't you do that again," he hissed. "If anything might be wrong, I want to know. So do the others. But . . ." He pulled back and looked Johnson in the eyes. "I appreciate your consideration. You've changed."

Nesbitt finally gave a grudging nod. "In the past, I could imagine you completely falling apart and going into hysteria the moment you thought you might die. You were never good at acting when it came to something involving you. But you put on quite an act tonight."

"Then . . . you both forgive me?" Johnson looked hopeful.

Lector frowned. "Tonight I discovered that my father lied to get me out here and couldn't care less if Dr. Raven hurts me. Then I come back here and find out that I could have lost another of my dear friends without even knowing he was sick. He lied to me too. Only his lie was because he cared a great deal whether I was hurt." He heaved a sigh, clenching his fist.

"Of course _I_ forgive you," Nesbitt blurted. "But Lector might need a little time."

"No," Lector said. "How can I not forgive someone who really does care about me?" He turned away, passing a trembling hand over his face. "It's forgiving my father that's really going to take some work." His voice broke.

Crump got out of bed and came over to him. "Did he really say he didn't care?" he said in concern.

"Yes, he did," Lector said. "To my face! And he used to care. He used to. . . ." He trembled, close to breaking down but trying to hold it back.

"Oh Buddy . . ." Crump drew a firm arm around Lector's shoulders. "You told Nesbitt once to cry if he needed to, that none of us would judge him. That's the same thing here."

Lector shook his head. "I'm not going to cry. But I . . ." He trailed off and just let Crump hold onto him. There had been too much going on earlier to really process his father's hateful words. Now, coming back and learning about Johnson had really driven it home. Two lies, and two completely different attitudes regarding them. . . .

"My father already drove a knife into my heart," he said at last. "Why does he have to carve it up in pieces too? I wish he'd never called me. I wish we were all home right now. I want to just pack up and leave. . . ."

Gansley and Johnson came over to him as well. Nesbitt, never very good at being comforting, trailed behind but was also clearly concerned.

"We can go any time you want to, Lector," Gansley told him. "We came here for you."

"We wouldn't be here otherwise," Nesbitt added.

"I don't know what to do!" Lector burst out. "The police are involved now, but if there really is magic, how are they going to handle it?! My sister has amnesia. What's going to happen next?!"

"Dr. Raven probably won't hurt her again," Gansley said.

"But he may go after the others," Lector said despondently. "My family turned against me, except for Evangeline. What do I owe them?!" He pulled away from Crump and turned to face him and the others. "I don't owe them anything! All of you have been getting hurt because of my father's cruel plan to use me as a target! I need to think about your safety above theirs!"

"But you're still worried about them too," Gansley knew.

"You still love your family," Johnson quietly said.

"Yes." Lector turned away. "Maybe all of them feel like my father does, but I don't know that. And regardless, I have no intention of being a sacrificial lamb, but . . . I don't know how to walk away from this mess until they're safe. I don't know what to do. . . ."

". . . There is that angle of Yugi and everyone saying we're all supposed to defeat the great evil," Johnson said. "Not that we've ever been in the saving the world business, but if you feel you have to stay until Dr. Raven is defeated, at least we don't have to do it by ourselves."

". . . That's true," Lector conceded. "Alright, let's go talk to them. Maybe we can figure out a new plan."

He headed for the door. The other four went with him.

xxxx

In the Kaiba suite, everyone had gathered waiting anxiously for Joey and Tristan to return. When they walked through the door after Gansley and Lector brought them back, they were immediately mobbed by their loved ones.

"Joey! Tristan!" Serenity ran at them both, throwing her arms around their necks.

"Sis!" Joey hugged her close.

Tristan tried to hug her too. "We're really okay, Serenity," he said, beaming to see how she'd been worried.

"Mr. Lector said you were in a cemetery!" Serenity cried.

"Oh my," Bakura gasped.

"I doubt you handled that well," Yami Bakura remarked, eyeing Joey, who flushed.

"It's the most haunted cemetery in the country! How do you think I'd handle it?!"

"By freaking out," Téa playfully smiled.

Joey scowled. "I can keep my cool when I have to!"

Yugi chuckled, but smiled up at him and Tristan in relief. "We're all so glad you're okay," he said.

"You big dork! We were all worried," Mai declared, looking at Joey with her hands on her hips.

"We were pretty worried too!" Joey shot back. "We didn't set out to get plopped in a cemetery!"

"Kaiba tried to find you too," Téa said. "He wanted to track you through your cellphone, Joey. He wasn't able to make it work, but he tried."

"Yeah?" Joey blinked, looking through the crowd to where Seto was standing near the back, not speaking. "Well . . . thanks, Kaiba. Thanks a lot."

Seto nodded. "Just don't go doing anything idiotic like that again," he scolded. "If you want to investigate, take some of the others with you."

"Hey, I doubt anyone could have done anything against that voodoo potion!" Joey snapped.

"It might have only been chloroform," Tristan countered.

"Well," Yugi sighed, "I guess the question now is, what should we do next? I bet if we try to find out what was in those packages, we'll find the file missing and the information deleted from the computer."

"On the contrary," Seto said. "It wasn't deleted from the computer . . . yet."

Joey stared at him. "You hacked in and found it?!"

"That's right," Seto said. "You and Tristan wouldn't have had to leave to look for it at all."

"Seto decided to try looking for it after he couldn't get you tracked down," Mokuba said.

Joey scowled. ". . . Well, what does it say?!" he demanded.

"Unfortunately, nothing very helpful," Seto said. "If it is more than your average voodoo knick-knacks, it's not listed as such."

"Mostly it's just figurines and voodoo dolls," Marik said.

"And mojo bags and amulets," Mokuba added.

"Amulets," Atem mused. "Those are quite important in the _vodun_ religion, aren't they?"

"Yeah, I think so," Mokuba blinked.

"Then maybe the possibly powerful magical artifact is an amulet, disguised as just another one to sell to the tourists!" Atem exclaimed. "Kaiba, did you find any photographs of the contents of those crates?"

"Some," Seto said. "I saved copies of everything to my laptop."

A bit of hope shone in Atem's eyes. "Then let's look!"

Just as everyone was starting to move toward the couch to gather around the laptop, a knock came at the door. Seto paused and went over to it. "Who is it?" he called.

"Angelique," was the reply.

Quickly Seto opened the door. Angelique was standing there, flanked by two policewomen, a strange box in her hands.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

The Big Five suddenly appeared in the hallway behind Angelique.

"Hey, what's going on?" Crump asked. "I thought you were going to a safehouse somewhere."

"I really felt I needed to bring this to Mr. Kaiba, when I remembered about it," Angelique said. "I convinced the officers to bring me by on our way to the safehouse." She looked to him and the others. "I think this concerns all of you too. Look at the picture."

Everyone crowded around to see. The painting on the lid definitely depicted Seto's ancestor. Surrounding him were people who did indeed resemble the Big Five.

"What the heck?!" Crump exclaimed.

"I know you said that our ancestors were magic users, but you didn't say they worked with Mr. Kaiba's ancestor," Lector said.

"I wasn't sure how you would take it," Atem admitted. "They were also completely loyal to him."

"No usurping Egypt plots, eh?" Crump shrugged. "Oh well. We're not our ancestors, as we've already established. And anyway, we've buried the hatchet with Kaiba."

The others nodded, although Nesbitt still looked annoyed regardless.

Joey was still staring at the picture. "That's just freaky," he said.

"We just _happen_ to run into someone who has something like this in their possession?!" Tristan added in disbelief.

"I doubt it was a coincidence at all," Atem said. "We were meant to come here. Shadi tried to set that in motion."

"So what the heck are you doing with it?!" Crump asked.

"A strange man gave this box to my great-great-grandmother and charged her with keeping it safe until the right time came for it to be given over," Angelique said. "After meeting all of you, I really feel it's the right time."

Seto took the box. "Thanks. It's locked, though, isn't it?" He frowned, lifting it up and looking underneath the overhanging edge of the lid.

"The man said that those destined to have the contents will be able to open it if they're all together," Angelique said. "Well . . ." She stepped back. "I'd better go. I hope I've helped. . . ." She looked down. "I feel terrible I didn't do more when you and Mr. Crump were trapped in the freezer."

"Hey, you just didn't know how to get past the crazy lady on your own, right?" Crump said. "As soon as Johnson came, you got him to help you."

"I'd been threatened and I was afraid," Angelique said. "But I knew I couldn't let you two die in there. I just didn't know what to do." Suddenly remembering something, she looked up at Johnson with a jerk. "Oh . . . ! Are you . . . ?"

"I just found out I'm alright," Johnson said. "That woman was only trying to scare me."

"Thank goodness." Angelique smiled. "I'll see all of you later. Please be careful!"

"We'll be as careful as we can be," Seto grunted.

As Angelique and the officers departed, the Big Five entered the suite and Seto shut the door after them. "So now what?" Crump asked.

Seto set the box on a table and scowled at it. "I have no idea. If we all have to be together, maybe we all put our hands on the lid?" he suggested, half-sarcastic.

"It's worth a try," Yugi said.

As soon as all six of them placed a hand upon said lid and tried to lift it up from the edge, it complied. It creaked open easily, as though it had never been locked.

"Well? What the heck's in here?" Crump wondered.

Seto reached down, lifting out a ring with a rectangular slab of what looked like crystal or diamond set deeply within it. "Rings," he said in disbelief. "Six rings, all with different colors."

"Oh wow," Yugi gasped.

Mai came over to look. "Too bad they're all men's rings," she remarked. "This purple one would match my eyes perfectly, don't you think?"

"I imagine they're expensive." Gansley picked one up that looked like it had onyx in it.

"Priceless," intoned a new voice.

Everyone jumped. Shadi was now standing before them.

"Shadi!" Yugi exclaimed.

"Where'd you come from?" Crump demanded.

"He comes and goes whenever he pleases," Seto grunted. He waved the diamond ring at Shadi. "Explain this."

"They are rings that control powers related to the Duel Monsters elements," Shadi answered. "Light, Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, and Darkness. There is one for each of you, originally wielded by your ancestors and now passed down to you."

"So . . . who has what?" Crump blinked.

"Seto Kaiba and Mr. Gansley have already chosen their rings," Shadi said. "Light and Earth, respectively. Yours is Water."

Crump's eyes lit up. "Well, that's great with me!" He grabbed a light blue ring.

"Mr. Johnson's is Wind," Shadi continued. "That is the green one."

"I see." Johnson lifted the deep green ring.

"Mr. Nesbitt's is Fire," Shadi said.

"That fits," Crump said, while Nesbitt scowled. "But wait a minute! That means Lector's is Darkness?!" He frowned. "That's not right."

"It certainly isn't," Johnson objected. "I should be Darkness. Lector was always better than the rest of us! Why does the universe seem to disagree with that?!"

"It is not an evil darkness," Shadi. "More correctly, it is powers relating to the night. The night is beautiful and mysterious, but not evil."

Lector slowly reached into the box. "Purple _is_ my favorite color," he noted, but he still looked lukewarm about the whole thing. "What, exactly, are we supposed to do with these?"

"They will only work in times of great crisis that threatens the world," Shadi said. "In ancient times, the Pharaoh Seto and your ancestors wielded them when the Millennium Items were not enough."

"So they're extremely powerful," Seto noted.

"Yes. But they were not forged of evil, as the Millennium Items were," Shadi said.

"Is it dangerous to use them?!" Mokuba demanded.

"It would be more dangerous not to," Shadi replied.

"I don't remember hearing about these at all," Atem said in surprise. "I didn't have them during my reign."

"No, you did not, my Pharaoh," Shadi agreed. "They were commissioned by Seto Kaiba's ancestor during a dangerous time for Egypt, before the seventh Millennium Item holder of his reign had been found. They were still used after the last Item holder was found, when situations were dire enough. Now, with the Millennium Items gone and only some of the Infinity Items in use, they are needed again."

"I see," said Lector.

Yami Bakura grunted. "You could simply give us more Infinity Item holders, since it sounds like these rings have more conditions for their use."

"The time may come when that will be necessary," Shadi calmly answered. "Right now, the world needs the rings . . . and their holders."

". . . So it looks like we're going into the saving the world business for real," Crump said.

"A good investment . . . if we come out of it alive," Gansley grunted.

"Oh, you'd help anyway," Serenity smiled. "You did against Khu."

"Because Lector was in danger," Nesbitt said flatly. He sighed. "Of course, we've got that same situation here."

Lector nodded. "I want to protect my family, even though it would seem that most of them no longer care about me." He folded his arms. "But I don't want the world to be taken over by a great evil in any case. That wouldn't be a pleasant place for us to live . . . or any of you." He looked at the group, and Mokuba in particular.

"Then you are all agreed," Shadi said.

"Yes, we are," Johnson said.

Seto scowled but nodded. "I don't have much choice."

Shadi looked at them. "Any of you can use the elemental powers of the rings wherever you are, if the crisis is world-threatening enough. But in order to release the ultimate power of the rings, you must all be together."

Seto grunted. "Why's that?"

"Because in their ultimate form, the rings will open the dimensional door between this world and the Duel Monsters' world and summon your signature creatures," Shadi said.

"Blue Eyes," Seto whispered.

"And ours is . . . the Five-Headed Dragon?" Lector realized.

Shadi nodded. "Yes. It was also your ancestors' signature creature. Its five elemental heads represented their vastly different personalities, but also how well they worked together as a team . . . and how much they loved each other. They were inseparable, as the five of you are."

"Sounds good to me," Crump said.

"Wouldn't it be easy for them to fall into the wrong hands?" Gansley grunted as he slipped the onyx ring onto his right hand.

"They will only work for the six of you," Shadi said. "Yes, it is possible for them to be stolen, but they will do villains no good. Nor will they be able to sell them if they try. Their eyes will be masked to their true beauty and the gems will look like common rocks."

"That's handy," Crump said.

"But for us to be given these rings now . . . doesn't that mean we're going to face an enemy deadly enough to require them?" Nesbitt finally spoke.

"Yes, it does," Shadi said. "Mai Valentine had a theory that Dr. Raven's crates did not merely contain _vodun_ knick-knacks. She was correct. He was after something very dangerous—an artifact that could be used to take control of the entire world."

"Oh great," Seto scowled.

"Is it an amulet?" Yugi asked.

Shadi didn't answer. "Dr. Raven believes your father stole that artifact from him on purpose," he said, looking to Lector.

". . . And did he?" Lector asked.

"That, you will have to discover for yourselves," Shadi said. "As well as the artifact, wherever it currently is. It must either be turned over to me or destroyed outright." He stepped back. "If Dr. Raven or your father tries to wield this weapon, it will be a crisis more than sufficient to activate your rings."

"Wait!" Gansley ordered. "You haven't told us how to make these rings work!"

"They will respond to your wills," Shadi said. "But remember, only when the crisis is grim enough. And only magic-based. A crisis built around technology or other non-magical means will not activate them."

"They're pretty picky, aren't they," Crump remarked.

Shadi did not respond. Instead, he vanished.

Everyone stared after him for a long moment.

". . . Well, that was different," Crump said at last. "Hey, who wants to eat?"

Seto regarded him in disbelief, but almost everyone else chorused in the affirmative.

Joey grabbed the phone. "Oh yeah! Room service for everybody!"

While Joey took orders from most of the group, Seto went back to the couch and lifted the laptop.

"We did rather get sidetracked from looking at the pictures," Atem said as he suddenly appeared next to him. "Let's examine them together right now."

Seto was agreeable to that. "This is the first crate," he said. "Mostly dolls and figurines.

"The second crate has a lot of amulets and mojo bags." Seto frowned at the pictures. "All of the amulets look pretty similar. Or at least, none of them immediately look like a candidate for a magical device that could destroy the world." Sarcasm dripped from his voice.

"It's even possible that what we're looking for could be hidden within one of the mojo bags," Atem said.

Scouring the rest of the pictures left them no less confused than before. Seto growled, setting the laptop back on the table. "I don't know what we're going to do."

"We could search for records of a _vodun_ artifact with incredible powers," Ishizu said as she came up next to them. "There are several museums devoted to _vodun_ in the city. Someone there may be able to help us."

"And if that fails, we could run a bluff," Lector added. "Show the pictures to my father and tell him we see the artifact in them, then see how he reacts. I'm still not convinced he didn't steal the crates."

"You'd be willing to see your father again?" Johnson asked in concern.

"I don't want to," Lector said, "but I may need to."

Johnson laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Alright," Seto said. "There's not much we can do tonight, although I'll run an Internet search on . . . ugh . . . magical artifacts. We'll eat and try to get a decent sleep. In the morning, Ishizu and Rishid can go around to the museums. If we can't learn anything that way, we'll run the bluff on Lector's father."

Atem nodded. "Very well."

xxxx

Seto's Internet search yielded information on a couple of rumored objects with dangerous levels of power, but neither of them seemed to resemble anything in the photographs. In disgust and frustration he gave up, and after finally agreeing to eat something, he tried to settle in to sleep.

It wasn't easy. Even with the light off, he knew that diamond ring was still on his nightstand, glistening in the glow from the moon outside. Magic was still intruding on his life. Worse still, now he had to use it.

"Seto?"

He looked over as Mokuba appeared in the doorway. "What is it?"

Mokuba came in and stood near the nightstand, looking at the ring. "Are you okay? I know this must be the last thing you ever wanna do."

"It's certainly at the bottom of my list," Seto grunted. "But unfortunately, magic is real and I always knew it. I just denied it with all my heart because I didn't want it to be real. And I hoped a day like this would never come. But now that it has . . ." He picked up the ring and turned it around between his fingers. "I'll fight with everything I've got to keep you safe."

"I know," Mokuba said softly. ". . . At least this happened at a point when we know we can trust the Big Five. . . ."

"I guess this is probably why their lives were spared," Seto muttered.

"Maybe some of it," Mokuba said. "But I like to think it was also just because of how much they love each other. I'll never forget how Lector looked when they were all laying dead around him. . . ." He shuddered.

"People aren't allowed to live because of love," Seto retorted. "If that were true, our parents never would have died."

Mokuba looked down. "Maybe it's a case by case thing," he suggested. "We were able to go on, but maybe Lector couldn't have, especially since he'd already lost his biological family. . . ."

Seto grunted. "It's a moot point anyway." He set the ring down.

"Maybe you should wear that, Seto," Mokuba said. "I mean, if it's so important and all. . . ."

"I'll put it on in the morning," Seto sighed. "I doubt anything will happen while I'm in bed."

"Okay." Mokuba smiled at him. "Goodnight, big brother."

"Goodnight, kid." Seto allowed himself to smile a bit as he sank back into the bed.

xxxx

None of the Big Five were quite sure what to make of their new charge either. As they wandered around their suite, pretending to get ready for bed while really just lost in thought and confused, Crump caught up to Lector.

"So, this is really something else, huh?"

Lector looked down at the amethyst ring on his right hand. "I don't think I've fully processed it yet. I feel like I just stepped into a fantasy quest like that first virtual reality game was."

"No kidding," Crump said. "Me, I feel like I walked into a reboot of _Captain Planet and the Planeteers_. Everybody used magic rings on that."

Lector stared at him. "You watched that?"

A shrug. "You know I've always cared about the environment. Yeah, I always watched it when it was first on. It was kind of a guilty pleasure. Besides, even if I'd never seen it, it'd still make a good pop culture reference."

Lector shook his head, a bit amused. But then again, maybe it wasn't so surprising. He already knew Crump still watched certain animated films on occasion, although generally only if they were about penguins.

"You know what's also wild is that speaking of that first virtual reality game, the Five-Headed Dragon was the boss monster in that," Crump continued. "Now in real-life, it's the good guy."

"So are we," Lector said.

"Sometimes that's also wild," Crump said. "We were the bad guys for a long time. And even when we were, we probably didn't think we were, did we?"

"Not if we weren't being honest with ourselves," Lector said. He looked towards the bedroom. "In any case, we had better try to get some sleep if we want to have any real hope of solving these problems in the morning. Maybe using the rings won't prove necessary."

"It probably will," Crump said. "But you're right; we'd better try to sleep. I don't know if I really will, though. And you . . . you must have a lot on your mind tonight. . . ."

Lector sighed and averted his gaze, running his fingers over the amethyst in the ring instead of facing Crump. "Nothing that hasn't already been talked about."

"Well, you just come and get me if you wanna talk, okay?" Crump said.

Lector nodded. "I'll do that." He looked up. "Thank you."

"Anytime." Crump waved to him and disappeared into the other bedroom.

Lector turned, looking to Gansley on the daybed in the living room. He had apparently decided to lie down during their conversation and now seemed to be asleep. Why he had chosen the daybed this time was anyone's guess. Maybe he wanted Nesbitt to have someone around if he wanted to talk tonight, since Nesbitt usually grabbed the daybed if Gansley didn't.

Well, that was alright. Lector was fine sharing a room with any of the others as long as they each had a separate bed, and luckily, in this suite they did.

He wandered into the bedroom and found Nesbitt sitting on one of the beds, staring down at the floor. "Are you alright?" he asked.

Nesbitt looked up at him. "This is insane," he said. "I'm not a hero."

Now Lector saw that instead of the floor, Nesbitt was staring down at the citrine ring that had been allotted to him. "We already knew we were going to have to fight a 'great evil,'" he said.

"Yes, but that's not the same thing as being given a magic ring that belonged to your ancient ancestor and told to go save the world," Nesbitt scowled.

Lector sighed. "No, it isn't," he admitted.

"And will we even know what to do with these things when the time comes when we'll have to use them?" Nesbitt persisted.

"That man seemed to indicate we would," Lector said. "I suppose if it's a matter of will, we'll have to be careful not to set them off accidentally with an overload of emotions."

"And I'm Fire," Nesbitt growled. "Great."

"I can be very emotional myself," Lector said. "I could have easily fit the bill for Fire tonight."

Nesbitt looked up at him. "You've scolded me more than once and called me a fool for being impulsive and reckless."

"And you were," Lector said. "But this time, I'm the fool." He wearily sank onto the other bed. "I thought my father cared about me still. I got all of you out here and plunged into this kind of danger because I thought he actually wanted to reconcile."

"It's like Gansley said—we all made our own choices to come with you." Nesbitt looked away uncomfortably. "But I'm sorry about your father. I don't know what it would be like to have the love of someone important to you and then lose it."

Lector paused. "You also say you never cared about anyone until you met us. Is that really true? What about your family?"

"You're my family," Nesbitt responded. He laid down on the bed.

Lector frowned. For whatever reason, Nesbitt did not want to reveal his family life. Lector would respect that, although it certainly made him both curious and concerned. Why would Nesbitt want to stay quiet about it?

"Alright," he said. "I'm going to try to sleep. You should too."

"I know." Nesbitt turned out the lamp.

For a long time Lector lay awake in the dark room, trying to remember if Nesbitt had ever mentioned anything about anyone in his family in all the years they had known each other. Shortly after he concluded that Nesbitt never had, he dropped to sleep.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve**

Ishizu had to admit she was exasperated. The new day had dawned cloudy and cold, and she and Rishid had been desperately searching for information on powerful _vodun_ amulets and other artifacts for some hours now, without much success.

Their first stop had been the Historic Voodoo Museum in the French Quarter. It had been crowded despite the early hour, and after seeing what the museum had to offer, Ishizu had mixed feelings. While the contents of the museum were intriguing, and she had enjoyed looking over the exhibits, they had been very little help under the circumstances without a tour guide to explain. The siblings had been invited to return later for a cemetery tour with a very knowledgeable guide, and Ishizu had consented to book it.

"If the situation wasn't so dire, I could really take time to enjoy the uniqueness of the culture," she told Rishid as they walked down the street.

"I suppose we should try to enjoy what we can," Rishid said. "We may not have another chance to return to New Orleans."

Ishizu sighed. "I just have the terrible feeling that if we don't stop this madman soon, something tragic will happen. I don't understand why Shadi couldn't simply tell us what the artifact is and whether Lector's father has it."

"Shadi has never been completely up-front with us or anyone else," Rishid remarked. A bit of bitterness had slipped into his voice. If it hadn't been for Shadi twisting the truth about Mr. Ishtar's death, Marik might never have become bent on seeking revenge on the Pharaoh.

Of course, Rishid silently added, he could have revealed the truth on multiple occasions but chose not to. He had desperately feared Marik's reaction, whether that would have been killing himself or losing control and Yami Marik taking over. But it hadn't been fair to Marik or to all the innocent people he had hurt to have allowed Marik to fall into crime. Rishid had considered himself a lowly servant despite Marik's addressing of him as "brother," someone not worthy of doing anything but quietly serving his master. And he had hoped that by keeping Yami Marik at bay, he had been doing what he could to protect the world. It had been such a complicated situation and such a sad and dark time.

Ishizu laid a hand on Rishid's and silently squeezed. She could only imagine how horrible those years had been, for both Marik and Rishid. She herself would never forget her own helplessness yet determination to save Marik from himself and from the evil being he had created.

Rishid could at least be grateful that those times were over. As they turned onto another street with local businesses, he perked up at the sight of what looked like a voodoo gift shop. "Shall we try there?" he wondered.

"Let's," Ishizu said. "If someone knowledgeable is running it, we may not need to take that tour for any reason other than to enjoy it."

Rishid pushed the door open and walked inside with Ishizu.

The interior of the shop was much like Dr. Raven's shop in some ways, but both Ishtar siblings immediately noticed a difference. The gentle candles and incense burning felt warm and welcoming to Ishizu, and the assorted beads, dolls, and figurines seemed to smile on them. Ishizu doubted that Oreo the cat would hiss at any of these objects.

"Good morning," a smiling woman greeted them, coming from around the counter. "How may I help you?"

"Good morning," Ishizu smiled back. "We're looking for some unusual information regarding voodoo that we hoped you might be able to help us with."

"I will certainly do my best," the woman said. "My name is Mama Lola, by the way."

"I am Ishizu Ishtar, and this is my brother Rishid," Ishizu announced. "We're trying to find out information about rumored _vodun_ artifacts that might have enough power to control the world."

"Oh, I see." Mama Lola's eyes flickered and she looked troubled. "For what purpose?"

"To keep it from falling into the wrong hands," Rishid said.

"Well . . . we don't really have the power to do such things as taking over the world," Mama Lola said. "We never have."

"And yet I hear a 'but' in your sentence," Ishizu remarked.

"Someone who is practicing a corrupt form of _vodun_ may indeed seek such a thing," Mama Lola said. "And if they tamper with things they shouldn't, they may find it."

"Oh dear," Ishizu said.

"There are always rumors that such artifacts exist," Mama Lola continued. "I don't even keep up with such stories, as there are so many."

"Can you give us any examples?" Ishizu pleaded.

"I do remember hearing of an amulet that several shady characters were looking for," Mama Lola said. "It was green and diamond-shaped, with a skull in the middle."

Ishizu perked up. There had definitely been something like that in one of the photographs Seto had found of the missing crates' contents! From Rishid's expression, he remembered it too.

"Thank you so much," Ishizu said.

"Of course," Mama Lola said. "If you do run across such an item, I hope you will be able to keep it from falling into the wrong hands."

"These 'shady characters,'" Ishizu prompted. "Who are they?"

"Mostly corrupt priests," Mama Lola said.

"Such as a Dr. Raven?" Rishid suggested.

Mama Lola paused. "I don't specifically remember hearing his name in connection with the amulet, but he is certainly someone who would be interested in something like that. Among actual practitioners of _vodun_ , he is considered a disgrace."

"I am glad to hear that," Ishizu said. "Currently he is wanted by the police regarding the matter of trying to freeze two people to death in a walk-in freezer."

Mama Lola's eyes flashed. "I didn't know he would go quite that far. That is absolutely outrageous!"

"It most certainly is," Ishizu agreed in disgust.

"His bad actions will catch up to him eventually," Mama Lola prophesied. "I hope you will find the artifact before he does, if it truly has such power."

"Thank you," Ishizu said. "We are certainly going to keep looking."

Both siblings were in much better spirits as they left the shop. "I will call Marik right away with this news," Rishid said. "Perhaps he and Kaiba can examine the photographs more closely for the amulet in question."

Ishizu nodded. "And I suppose Mr. Lector will have to talk to his father again, this time to try to determine whether he has the amulet in his possession. I don't envy him that task. . . ."

"Nor do I," Rishid frowned as he took out his phone.

xxxx

The Tolliver Arms hotel parking lot was always very busy, so much so that the valets didn't tend to notice every vehicle there, particularly an out of the way van that every so often quietly changed its position.

Inside, Dr. Portman was hard at work. Yami Marik's magic had powered her monitors, allowing her glimpses into all the suites of the guests she was interested in. And so she watched and waited, intrigued by every new development. When anyone left the hotel, Yami Marik's magic enabled her to follow them via the monitors.

"There's always something new going on with these people," she mused. "And I would say some of them are being pushed towards their breaking points without me actually stepping in at all."

"Yes. That Dr. Raven really is good at what he does," Yami Marik sneered. "Although we're better. And I'm sure there will be a point where we can jump in and actively control a situation to make it worse."

"I'm sure as well," Portman mused. "Especially as the web tightens. They seem to be making some progress as to what this is all about, but I doubt that will solve all of their confusion. It may only make things worse."

"I can hardly wait," Yami Marik grinned.

"I'm also eager to see how Seto Kaiba and the Big Five handle their new charges as apparent heroes," Portman said. "None of them seem particularly pleased about it. It _is_ a great deal of responsibility, and they don't seem to feel worthy to handle it. I always love that."

"Kaiba just doesn't want to have to wield magic," Yami Marik laughed. "He's always detested it. And the Big Five don't think they're hero material."

"Maybe they're not," Portman said. "But that makes things all the more fun, I'd say."

"It does indeed," Yami Marik said. "So many feelings to prey upon. Let's see what happens as they try harder to locate that mysterious amulet."

Portman paused. "If they find it, would you want it for yourself?"

"Perhaps," Yami Marik said. "Although I like my own way of spreading chaos and destruction. I'm curious to see if anyone will try to wield that amulet, and if so, what will happen if they do."

"Yes," Portman whispered. "So am I." Her eyes gleamed eerily from behind her glasses.

xxxx

It didn't take long for Seto and Marik to determine that there was indeed an amulet in one of the crates that resembled what Mama Lola had described. Armed with that knowledge, Seto sent the picture and an explanation to Lector, and with a heavy heart Lector prepared to see his father once again.

Mokuba met the Big Five as they were leaving their suite. "Hey, Lector," he greeted. "I'm really sorry about this. . . ."

Lector sighed. "He'll just deny that he has the amulet, I'm sure," he said. "But I'm not sure what else there is to try."

"There's also the possibility that it's someone in your father's organization who's doing this and not your father himself," Gansley said.

"I know," Lector agreed. "Mr. Kaiba was going to look up all of the people employed at the warehouse. I hope he has some success. I don't want the thief to be my father."

"Yeah, seriously!" Crump exclaimed. "That wouldn't just make him a hypocrite; it'd mean that he knows full well why Dr. Raven's after him and he wouldn't tell you squat!"

"I hate this," Lector said, gritting his teeth. "Not being able to trust my own father . . . !"

"I've never been able to trust my parents," Crump said. "But it'd be way worse to have been able to once and not anymore."

"You are certainly right," Lector said, rubbing his forehead.

Mokuba shifted. "Um . . . I was just thinking that maybe it would be good if someone went with you guys to talk to your dad now that we know about the amulet," he said. "Since we're supposed to defeat the 'great evil' and all. Maybe we could present that angle and see if that would get him to open up."

Lector raised an eyebrow. "Are you referring to yourself, Mokuba?"

"Well . . . I thought maybe I could come and offer some support," Mokuba said. "If you'd like. . . ."

". . . It's not a bad idea," Gansley mused. "Would his heart be softened by a child?"

"I couldn't say," Lector said wearily. "Mokuba, does your brother know about this?"

Mokuba flushed. "Uh . . . I'd ask him before we'd leave, of course. . . ."

Lector shook his head. "I don't want him to think this was my idea. I raked him over the coals for using you."

"But I want to come!" Mokuba protested. "You wouldn't be using me!"

The door to the suite opened and Seto and Marik emerged, frowning at the scene. "What's going on here?" Seto asked.

Mokuba ran over to them. "Seto, I think maybe one or two of us should go with the Big Five now that we have this news about the amulet!" he pleaded.

"And you want to go?" Seto frowned.

"It was his idea, Mr. Kaiba," Lector insisted. "I did not say he could come."

Seto frowned more. "I have all this work I need to do looking up your father's employees. I can't go." He paused. "But Mokuba does have a point. I think Yugi and the Pharaoh should go with you. And maybe Marik." Another hesitation. "And if they're along, Mokuba can go with you."

Mokuba beamed. "Thanks, Seto! I'll do my best to get Mr. Leichter to tell us about the amulet." He hugged Seto and he and Marik hurried to round up Yugi and Atem.

Seto looked to Lector when Mokuba and Marik were out of earshot. "And you'd better take care of him, Lector," he growled. "He wants to go because he cares about you."

"I swear to you, Mr. Kaiba, I will guard him with my life," Lector replied.

xxxx

It was brunch at the Leichter manor when the Big Five and the others arrived. The butler let them in, his usual deadpan faltering to see them there. "Mr. Démas," he stammered.

"I suppose you weren't expecting to see me again," Lector said.

". . . It's not just that, Mr. Démas," the butler replied. "Master Leichter doesn't want to see you."

"I'm sure he doesn't," Lector said. "But I'm going to see him anyway." With that he pushed past the stymied man, the rest of the group in tow.

The butler stared after them helplessly. "He's in the . . ."

"The dining room. I know. I remember the schedule." Lector headed for the dining room.

Mr. Leichter looked up in indignation when the dining room doors flew open and his disgraced son stood there. "How dare you come back," he snarled.

Evangeline leaped up from the table. "Démas!" She beamed and ran over to him. "I was sure you'd be back!"

Lector smiled and hugged her close. "I would have said Goodbye to you in any case, Evangeline." He looked back to the table. Marie looked awkward and worriedly uncomfortable, while Mrs. Leichter tried to focus on her bacon and eggs.

Mokuba clenched a fist. He really wanted to chew them out for their behavior, especially Lector's mother. But he didn't want to cause Mr. Leichter to throw them out before they had a chance to talk about the reason for their visit, so he bit his tongue and vowed to keep quiet.

"I had a specific reason for coming here again, Father," Lector said, taking out his phone. "I wanted to show you this." He walked over to Mr. Leichter's chair, displaying the photograph of the second missing crate's contents.

The man went several shades of pale. "Where did you get that?!"

"Mr. Kaiba," Lector told him. "I see it has a profound effect on you."

"Only because no one is supposed to have that picture," Mr. Leichter sputtered. "The original is under lock and key in my warehouse's computer. Seto Kaiba must have broken the law in order to get it!"

"Is that the only reason for your reaction?" Gansley asked.

"What do you mean?" Mr. Leichter spat.

"There's something specific in this picture we wanted to point out." Atem came forward and held his forefinger to the green diamond-shaped medallion. "This piece here."

Mr. Leichter quickly brought his napkin to his lips and coughed into it. "What about it?"

"It's a _vodun_ amulet that supposedly has the power to take control of the world," Lector said.

"If you believe that, it's one more strike against you," Mr. Leichter said in disgust. "I raised you to be a good Catholic, with none of this voodoo devilry that your mother and sisters so foolishly believe in."

Evangeline scowled at him. "It's not devilry! Anyone that uses it for evil isn't practicing true voodoo! And anyway, Daddy, you don't kick us out or think we're the lowest of the low because we believe in it."

"Evangeline!" Mrs. Leichter hissed.

"You're only acting like this because it's Démas saying it," Evangeline persisted. "But I want to hear what he has to say!"

"Dr. Raven has been looking for this amulet," Lector said. "My guess is that's the real reason why he's so angry about the missing crates."

"Even if that's true, it doesn't change anything," Mr. Leichter said. "I don't have the amulet."

"Mr. Leichter, I don't think you realize everything that's at stake here," Atem said. "The truth is, a lot of us came out here because we were told of a great evil we had to stop."

"That's right," Yugi spoke up. "We're pretty sure that evil is Dr. Raven."

"And we want to make sure he doesn't get that amulet, just in case it really does have the powers it's reported to have," Marik said.

"So if you have it, we'd really like to know," Mokuba said. "Please, Sir . . ."

"Shame on you," Mr. Leichter growled. "All of you! Coming in here, reciting this kind of nonsense! What's more, I already said I hadn't stolen those lost crates!"

"Maybe you were just trying to keep that amulet away from Dr. Raven and you weren't trying to steal all the crates," Mokuba said.

"There is no such thing!" Mr. Leichter boomed. "If he believes it, he's pathetic. If you believe it, you're just a child. But if _you_ believe it, Démas, you should know better. Of course, you always should have known better, on everything. Get out of here, all of you!"

Crump took an angry step forward. "You ungrateful jerk!" he cried. "He only came out here for you!"

"How dare you get off talking to him that way?" Nesbitt snarled.

"Get out of here and find Dr. Raven!" Mr. Leichter yelled. "If you're out here to stop him, then do it!"

"Daddy, you're being horrible!" Evangeline declared. "You say Démas isn't being a good Catholic just if he says that amulet can supposedly take over the world, but you're not being a good Catholic if you can't forgive him for the past!"

"Evangeline, that's enough!" Mrs. Leichter burst out. "Apologize to your father!"

"No!" Evangeline screamed. "He needs to hear it!"

"What I need is for all of you people to leave!" Mr. Leichter boomed, pointing at Lector and the other visitors.

Lector gave his father a look of disgust mixed with disappointment and sorrow. "Alright, Father. This time I'm leaving for real. Don't expect to see me back." He nodded to the other unwelcoming souls at the table. "Mother. Marie."

"Démas. . . ." Evangeline hugged him again. "Please be careful. . . ."

"I will be," Lector soothed. He held her close. "I'm glad you haven't turned against me, Evangeline."

"Never," Evangeline promised.

Mokuba's eyes filled with worry as they left the manor and headed back to the van. "What do we do now?" he worried.

"I have to admit, I'm at a complete loss," Gansley said.

"I suppose if Mr. Kaiba had found anything out yet, he would have texted us," Lector said.

"He may not learn anything anyway," Atem frowned. "I can only think of one thing to do: go back to the warehouse and see if we can find out anything in the daytime."

"I can think of something else," Nesbitt said. "Why not try to talk to that Marcel Germaine and find out if Dr. Raven really is related to him? Maybe he knows where the guy lives."

"That's a good idea!" Yugi exclaimed.

Lector nodded in agreement. "We're not licked yet. We'll try that first. If Mr. Germaine doesn't have any ideas, I suppose we'll have to try the warehouse again." He sighed.

"We'll find Dr. Raven, Lector," Mokuba insisted. "And the amulet too."

"Another thing we could do is go back to that cemetery where the boys were put and see if there's any clues in the coffins," Nesbitt said.

"We'd have to sneak in somehow," Atem frowned, "since it's not open to the public."

"Actually, Ishizu and Rishid are going on a tour that will include that cemetery!" Yugi remembered. "They can check the coffins, if they spot them! Maybe the tour won't go past them. . . ."

"Or maybe Dr. Raven even went back and collected them after Mr. Wheeler and Mr. Taylor left," Lector said.

"Well, it won't hurt to ask them to try to check it out," Yugi retorted, taking out his phone to tap out a text message.

xxxx

Inside the manor, Mr. Leichter was highly restless despite the group's departure. At last, finding food a hopeless task right then, he got up and headed for the doors.

"Where are you going?" Mrs. Leichter asked in concern.

"I'll be right back," he said over his shoulder. "I just have to make a business call."

Within moments he was in his study and dialing a number. He shifted, anxious, until a voice came on the other end of the line.

"Yes, hello?" He narrowed his eyes as he looked towards the window. "I didn't want to have to resort to this, but I'm afraid we're going to have to go ahead and burn our bridges behind us, so to speak."

"Are you sure, Sir?" the other voice crackled.

"Yes," Mr. Leichter insisted. "Have them set to go off tonight."

". . . Alright, Sir. You're the boss."

He hung up the phone.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen**

Marcel Germaine was a friendly and accommodating host, to the group's relief. But somewhat to their surprise, he didn't seem to have much good to say about his wayward relative.

"Dr. Raven?" he sighed. "Yes, you were informed correctly; he's my second cousin twice removed."

"You don't sound pleased about it," Atem noted.

"I hate to speak ill of a relative, but he always was a wild card—fascinated by the occult and dark magic and in trying to find ways to defy reality and logic at every turn. Then when he decided to adopt a corny stage name like Dr. Raven, I just threw up my hands and sighed. I couldn't imagine what he wanted with those coffins, but he claimed it was just for a stage act and he wanted them to be authentic."

"You would sell someone coffins for that purpose?" Atem frowned.

A shrug. "Companies do make coffins for movies and television," Marcel said. "There's nothing wrong with that. But for my cousin to do what you're describing with the coffins . . . !" He shook his head in sickened horror. "I am so sorry that my company had anything to do with it."

"You couldn't have known," Lector said.

"Tell us, what is his real name?" Gansley asked. "We're trying to locate him and don't know how to go about it. He hasn't been at the shop."

"Oh, I think you should go back and look again," Marcel said. "Several times he laughed and told me that he had several special exits and secret rooms in there. When the police came to talk to him, he was probably hiding away in one."

"Oh great," Mokuba sighed.

"As for his real name, it's Baptiste Germaine. I don't know where he lives, but he may be listed in the phone book."

"Thank you, Sir," Lector said with a slight bow. "We'll look into it."

Mokuba looked up at him as they left the Eternal Rest Coffin Company. "So are we gonna check out the shop ourselves or have someone else do it?"

"I'm sure Mr. Wheeler would like to do it," Lector said, "but I think it would be better if he didn't."

"Yeah," Mokuba sighed. "We don't need him blundering into something again."

"However, I don't know that you should be along either, Mokuba," Lector continued. "Maybe Mr. Ishtar should take you somewhere else."

"Aww, come on," Mokuba protested.

"He has a point, Mokuba," Marik spoke up, feeling a bit strange to be called "Mister." "Your brother only agreed to let you come because he didn't think we'd be going anyplace where you might be in danger. But if we went to look at Dr. Raven's shop, there could very easily be the possibility of danger."

"Maybe you could just do a little sight-seeing," Yugi suggested. "There's another parade today, I think. You could just enjoy the city for a while instead of worrying about the mystery."

"It's hard not to worry about it," Mokuba said. "And now Seto's got this extra pressure on him of using that ring. . . ."

"There's plenty of people to work on the mystery," Marik said. "We can get away for a couple of hours without disrupting anything." He paused. "And I'm sure your brother will do just fine with his new task."

Mokuba smiled a bit. "Yeah. . . ."

"We'll let you know if anything happens," Lector added.

"Okay," Mokuba finally said.

Marik smiled in relief.

xxxx

Baptiste Germaine was not listed in the phone book, so it was back to the shop for the Big Five, Yugi, and Atem. It still looked as abandoned as it had the previous day; the door was even still unlocked.

"If he's really still kicking around, why the heck would he leave this open?" Crump wondered.

"To keep up the illusion of not being here," Gansley said. "He wouldn't want to let the police—or us—know he was still on the premises."

Yugi shivered as they all wandered inside. "It really does feel eerie in here," he said. "I'll bet the place Ishizu and Rishid went to was a lot nicer."

"Yeah, because it's not being run by some nutcase bent on killing us all," Crump retorted.

"Alright. Spread out and try to find a secret panel," Atem directed. "They must be here somewhere."

"I wonder if that weird barrier is still here preventing people from going into the back room," Crump said. He wandered over near the black curtain. "Nope, it's gone." Immediately he pulled the curtain back. ". . . Okay, now that's creepy."

Lector came over to look. "What is it?"

"Everything!" Crump said with a wild gesture.

Lector frowned. It did look unsettling; skulls were decorating the room on all sides. At the back was some sort of altar with unlit candles at both ends and another skull behind one.

"We should check inside all the skulls, just in case he hid something inside one," Nesbitt said flatly.

Yugi swallowed hard. "Um . . . yeah, I guess we should," he said. His hand shook as he reached for the nearest one.

"Are you serious?!" Crump exclaimed. "I'm not gonna open any of those things' jaws!"

"Even if it means finding a valuable clue?" Gansley retorted while opening the mouth of another.

"There's other places to look!" Crump walked into the back room and over to the altar. "I'd even rather check here!" He tried lifting part of the ceremonial cloth.

Lector stayed in the main room and helped Johnson look through the drawers and cupboards behind the check-out counter.

"It just looks like more voodoo paraphernalia back here," Johnson frowned. "Complete with dolls." He shuddered. "I know you said they're not supposed to be used for evil, Lector, but it's hard to forget that portrayal."

"Anyway, they look creepy regardless," Crump called from the back room. "They either have no faces or these weird kind of faces."

Lector reached into the cupboard and took out two dolls. "I wonder what these are doing back here instead of on a shelf. That's strange."

Atem looked over. "Do you think there's some significance in that?"

"There could be," Lector said. He straightened, turning them around to examine from all angles.

"On the other hand, would Dr. Raven have left them here if there was?" Atem wondered.

"That depends," Lector said. "We still don't know if he really came back here. Maybe he didn't. Maybe he's not here now." He laid them on the counter and began feeling across them.

"What the heck are you doing?" Crump demanded as he came back into the main room. "You got a doll fetish or something?"

Lector rolled his eyes. "I'm trying to figure out if there's anything inside them besides stuffing," he retorted.

"Oh." Crump watched him for a moment. "Does it feel like there is?"

"No." Lector frowned at the dolls.

Yugi had wandered into the back room by now. "There has to be something we're missing," he called over his shoulder. "We haven't found one secret panel!" Then he stopped, staring at the altar. "I wonder . . ."

Nesbitt was still putting his hands into skulls. At the doorway to the back room, he stopped and stared as Yugi knelt on the floor and began tapping the altar from all sides. "If that's a doorway to another room, I doubt anyone but you would fit," he commented.

"It might just be a small compartment," Yugi replied. His eyes widened as something clicked. "Yeah! There's definitely something here!" He opened a door in the side of the altar, revealing that the entire structure was hollow.

Nesbitt came over to him. "Is there anything inside that chamber?"

"I think . . . yeah, there is!" Yugi reached inside and pulled out a heavy book. ". . . Um . . . uh oh. . . ." He held it up. "It's an encyclopedia of magic objects."

Atem heard and hurried over. "That's wonderful, Yugi! It may have the amulet we're looking for in there. We could see what it looks like and hopefully learn more about its supposed powers!"

Yugi set it on the altar with a hard _thump_ and opened it. "The Millennium Items are in here," he gasped.

"What about the Infinity Items?" Atem wondered.

Yugi flipped back several dozen pages. "The Puzzle and the Ring are mentioned," he said. "And the Star. The Ankh isn't listed, and neither is anything else. But . . . oh wow." He stared at the blurb. "It says here that while the Millennium Puzzle was the . . . well, the leader of the Millennium Items, the Infinity Ring is generally thought to be the leader of the Infinity Items."

Atem gawked at the page. "So not only was Yami Bakura given _a_ powerful Infinity Item, he was apparently given the _most_ powerful one!?"

"Well," Yugi said with a helpless shrug, "at least he hasn't misused it. . . ."

"It's not just that," Atem said. "With the way it malfunctions so seriously at times, I wouldn't have thought it was anywhere near the most powerful Item."

Crump shrugged. "I guess the guy still hasn't unlocked the thing's true power. The book doesn't say how to do that, does it?"

"No," Yugi said. He went back to the beginning and started turning pages. "This is going to take forever when we don't have a name for the amulet. . . ."

"Stop at a listing for any artifact that talks about world domination," Atem instructed. "We don't know for sure it's an amulet."

Yugi cringed. That would take even longer, and who knew whether Dr. Raven might suddenly walk in on them? "Okay." He tried to quickly skim the blurbs before turning pages.

Atem shifted and watched him. "By the way," he said awkwardly, "did it say where the Infinity Puzzle fit on the scale of most powerful to least powerful?"

"No, it didn't," Yugi said. His mouth dropped open. "But oh gosh, those rings are in here!"

"What?!" Atem and the Big Five all rushed over to look. Indeed, the current pages in the book showed detailed paintings of every one of the six rings, collectively called the Elemental Rings.

"Boy, it's a good thing the box isn't shown," Yugi said. "Then Dr. Raven probably really would know about you guys and Kaiba having connections to the ancient past!"

"But how'd the rings get shown at all?" Crump exclaimed. "They were supposed to be under lock and key in that box thing!"

"Maybe at one time they were in a museum," Lector suggested.

"No, they couldn't have been," Atem remembered. "They were sealed in that box in ancient Egypt and only their descendants—all of you and Kaiba—could open it." He shook his head. "Since these _are_ only paintings, perhaps someone was just imagining what they looked like from descriptions in ancient records or illustrations on ancient paintings."

"Or maybe they were shown the things in a dream," Crump muttered, not even sure if he was being sarcastic.

"In any case, I sure hope Dr. Raven won't realize you guys are the ones meant to wield the rings," Yugi said in concern.

"He might, if he has security cameras in this place and is monitoring them," Lector remarked matter-of-factly.

"Oh!" Guilt-stricken, Yugi looked back to the book. ". . . And I just realized. Dr. Raven must have known about the Infinity Items because of this book! He was probably only pretending not to know what they were when he talked to you and Yami Bakura, Atem."

"That's true," Atem said in surprise. "But he didn't show any interest in having them. . . ."

"Maybe because he knows they have to be used only for good and he didn't fit the bill," Yugi said.

"Anything's possible, I suppose," Atem said.

Everyone drifted off to other parts of the shop again until Yugi cried out. "I think I've got something!"

They rushed back. "The amulet?" Atem said hopefully.

"Yeah! It looks just like that one in the photograph Kaiba got!" Yugi pointed to a jade-green, diamond-shaped amulet with a skull in the center. "It's called the Amulet of Emotions. It reacts to extreme emotions while someone is holding or wearing it and transforms the person into a powerful being who can act on their emotions."

"So . . . that means if somebody, say, has extreme emotions about taking over the world, they can do that with it?" Crump said uneasily.

"It sounds like it," Yugi said. He took out his phone and snapped a picture of it. "This has to be what Dr. Raven's after! It was definitely in that box!"

"Unless the one in the box was just a replica," Atem mused.

"I don't think so," Yugi said. "It doesn't seem to be very well-known. I'm sure it's the real thing!" He flipped back through the pages until he came to the spread on the Infinity Items. "We should show this to the Bakuras," he said as he activated the phone's camera again.

"Oh yeah, no pressure there," Crump grunted. "Tell the thief guy he's got the most powerful item in the set and he's gotta be the leader!" He gestured wildly with both hands.

Atem cringed.

Yugi closed the book and lifted it to replace inside the altar. "We should get this information back to the others!" he declared.

"Hold on," Johnson spoke up. "Maybe we should take the volume with us. There might be something else in there we can use."

Yugi blinked in surprise. "Well . . . what if there aren't security cameras and Dr. Raven comes and finds the book gone? He'll know we got to it first. . . ."

"He already knows that's a possibility," Atem said. "Johnson may have a point, Yugi. The book may list something we can use to counter the amulet."

"I'm sure two Infinity Items and six magic rings are enough," Yugi replied. "I'd really rather not take the book with us."

Atem sighed and backed off. "Very well, Yugi. It's your decision to make."

"Objection," Johnson countered. "The boy may be the newly appointed leader of your group, Pharaoh, but he isn't _our_ leader. That honor still belongs to Mr. Gansley." He gestured to his friend.

Gansley nodded. "We don't even know for certain how to use these magic rings yet. Let's take the book." He pointed at it with his cane.

Yugi bit his lip, but finally backed down. "Okay then," he said. "It's your responsibility."

Pleased, Johnson scooped up the heavy tome. "This really shouldn't be left in the hands of a man who tried to murder some of us anyway," he said. "He might decide that if he can't have the amulet, he'll try to get a different artifact instead."

That thought hadn't occurred to Yugi. He looked down, chagrined. "Oh. . . . I guess he might. . . ."

"It's better off with us," Gansley agreed.

As they headed back through the shop, Yugi looked to Atem with a weak chuckle. "You know, I never thought the day would come when I'd actually believe him on something like this."

Atem stared off into the distance. "So many things are different now."

Yugi's expression shifted to surprise. "Hey, are you okay?"

Atem started. "Oh. . . . Yes, Yugi, I'm just fine."

Yugi gave him a bit of a sad smile. "It probably feels kind of strange not to be the one in charge, doesn't it?"

"I promised I wouldn't interfere with you being the leader, Yugi, and I won't," Atem insisted.

"Somehow I don't think that's what you're thinking about as much as you're thinking about what we learned about the Infinity Items," Yugi said. "You apparently don't have the most powerful item in this set. Not only that, your former archenemy has it. That can't be easy to take."

Atem looked down, but he was smiling a bit now as well. "You always were able to read me so well, Yugi. Yes, I have to admit it may take me a while to be able to handle this news. I trust Bakura to do the right thing after all he's been through over the past year and everything he's learned, but . . ." He clenched his fists. "He can't even fully tap into the power of the Ring! How will he ever wield it properly?!" A heavy sigh. "And . . . while I've supported him, I honestly never thought he had been given the strongest Item. I didn't know . . . I would have to be subservient to him. . . ." His voice lowered.

Yugi laid a hand on his shoulder. "You don't fully know how to use the Infinity Puzzle, either," he said softly. "Maybe you can help each other."

"Perhaps so," Atem said, and tried to smile a bit again.

xxxx

Mokuba was restless. He wanted to relax and fully enjoy the exploration of the city, but it was difficult when thoughts of the mystery kept intruding on his mind. Even as he and Marik watched the parade and he became fascinated by the intricate costumes and floats, an attempt to sort through the baffling mystery was never far from his mind. Then, as he rushed to grab some flying doubloons thrown by one of the men on the current float, his hand brushed against that of someone familiar.

"Hey!" he exclaimed. "You were watching us yesterday!"

The other boy went stiff, his eyes taking on a deer in the headlights look. He turned, clutching his prize as he tried to squeeze through the crowd.

Mokuba looked up at Marik. "You believe me, don't you?! That's the kid! I know it!"

Marik narrowed his eyes. "Then let's try to catch him." He took Mokuba's hand, pushing their way through the heavy throngs. Catching anyone in this crowd seemed highly unlikely. Catching a small boy seemed almost impossible. But he wasn't about to give up.

When they finally broke through the gathering and looked around, at first there was nothing. But then Mokuba cried out. "There he goes! He's climbing that ladder and getting on that building's balcony!" He pulled away from Marik and ran over to the ladder. "Come back!"

"Mokuba!" Marik exclaimed. He chased after his friend, quickly ascending the ladder behind him. By the time he reached the balcony, Mokuba had vanished through the sliding glass doors. "Oh . . . I hope no one's in there," the Egyptian muttered to himself. He did not look forward to explaining why they were intruding into the apartment.

Mokuba was running through the residence's bedroom and into the living room, still calling for the kid. He stopped in the middle of the living room, frowning as he looked around for the strange spy. "I know you came in here!" he called. "All we wanna know is why you've been watching us!" He hesitated, then added, "Are you working for Dr. Raven?"

Silence. Then, finally, the boy came out from behind a chair. "No," he said. "I'm not working for anyone."

"But you _have_ been watching us," Marik said as he caught up to Mokuba.

The boy shifted. ". . . I was just trying to figure out what kind of people you are," he said at last.

Mokuba stared at him. "Huh? Why?"

". . . Because I'm worried about Uncle Démas!" he blurted.

Marik stared at him in surprise. "You're his oldest sister's child?"

A nod. "Well . . . one of them. I'm Gabriel. My older brothers, they don't care about him. They always made life miserable for him whenever he tried to baby-sit them. Uncle Démas doesn't even know me real well; he left for Domino City before I was born. But Mom's always talked about him and she still loves him, and . . . I guess she's passed that on to me. I love him even without really knowing him, because he's family."

Marik smiled a bit. "He'll be very happy to hear this. He thinks everyone other than Evangeline has turned against him."

Mokuba nodded in agreement. "Does your mom know you've been out?"

"She has to work a lot," was the sighed reply. "Dad left years ago. So I help around the house and go exploring on my own and stuff. When I heard you were all coming out here, I wanted to try to figure out if you'd be good for Uncle Démas and help him." He looked down. "Mom loves him and all, but she doesn't wanna go against Grandpa."

That brought a scowl from Mokuba. "Even if your grandpa is doing something wrong? I mean, come on here! He tricked Lector into coming out to try to fix a problem of his! He didn't even care if Lector got hurt, just as long as he took the heat off the rest of the family!"

"I know!" Gabriel exclaimed. "That's why I've been going against Mom's wishes and stalking you guys!"

Marik folded his arms. "Do you know anything that might help us solve this mystery faster? Anything at all?"

A long hesitation. ". . . I think Grandpa's the one you really have to watch out for, not Dr. Raven."

"Why do you think that?" Marik asked in surprise. "Dr. Raven has been trying to kill some of us, including your uncle."

Gabriel looked away, blinking back forming tears. "Yeah, but he's a stranger. Grandpa is family, and even though you should be able to trust him, you can't because he's been treating Uncle Démas really rotten. He's already lied about a bunch of things. How do you know what else he might have lied about?"

"You know something else, don't you?" Mokuba said. "You want to help your uncle, and you hope we'll help him, so you've been watching us. Maybe you really want to tell us something too, but you're afraid to go that far because your grandpa's family too and you don't want to betray him either."

Gabriel drew a shaking breath. ". . . You're right. But . . ."

"If you know something that could protect your uncle, you need to tell us, even if it gets your grandfather in trouble," Marik said. "If he's been doing something wrong, he needs to be stopped."

"Okay." Gabriel finally turned back to face them. "I think my grandpa really did steal the missing crates."

Mokuba stared. "Why?!"

Before Gabriel could answer, the front door opened and a woman walked in, loaded down with grocery bags. When she caught sight of the three boys, she stopped and stared in utter disbelief. "What are all of you doing in my apartment?!" she cried.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen**

Mokuba cringed at the arrival of the apartment's owner. "Um . . . we're sorry?" he ventured. "See, we were being watched by this kid, so we chased him, and he led us in here. . . ." He gestured at Gabriel.

The woman frowned at him. "You should know better than to enter a strange apartment, young man."

Gabriel shifted. "Well . . . you shouldn't leave your doors unlocked, Ma'am."

Marik had to smirk a bit. "He does have a point. But we're sorry anyway. We'll leave now."

"You're darn-tootin' right you're going to leave!" the woman ranted as she set her grocery bags on a table. "Especially if you don't want me calling the police on the lot of you!" Her eyes flashed. "Tourists are always coming here over Mardi Gras, thinking they can do any crazy thing they want! We're really not as uncivilized as the media wants to say we are! Breaking and entering isn't acceptable any time of the year, including at Mardi Gras!"

"Hey, I live here!" Gabriel cried indignantly. "I'm not a tourist!"

"Let's just go." Marik gently pushed on his shoulders, herding him towards the door. Mokuba scrambled ahead of them to get out.

The door slammed shut after them as soon as they were in the hall.

Gabriel heaved a sigh. "Oh boy."

"Well, it wouldn't have happened if you hadn't run from us," Marik remarked. "Now, to get back to what you were saying, why do you think your grandfather stole the missing crates? Was he after the insurance money he'd get for reporting them stolen?"

"No!" Gabriel exclaimed. "At least . . . I don't think so." His shoulders slumped. "Grandpa's rich. He wouldn't need the insurance money."

"What, then?" Marik prodded.

"I think he just wanted to mess things up for Dr. Raven," Gabriel said. "He doesn't like the guy and he's been trying to evict him."

"We know that much," Mokuba said. "Come on, don't you have anything more than this?"

Again Gabriel looked away. ". . . I play around his warehouse sometimes. It's fun hiding behind all the crates and watching people work, or slipping into the cracks between stacks of crates and pretending I'm hiding from some creepy enemy. And . . . I hear things. See them sometimes too. So, right around the time the last batch of crates went missing, I was there. I was just minding my own business and stuff, and then I heard these guys talking to Grandpa. . . ."

" _Did you get them all?" Mr. Leichter asked._

" _Yes, Sir," one dockworker replied. "But I really don't understand what this is all about. . . ."_

" _You've always been so honest, Mr. Leichter," a second dockworker added. "This isn't like you at all. You even instructed us to take some of the shipments from your other clients to try to make it look less suspicious."_

" _I can't have that madman getting hold of the contents of one of his crates," Mr. Leichter insisted. He actually sounded frightened. "I thought it was coming in the last two shipments, but it wasn't. Then I didn't know how to return any of those without letting the cat out of the bag. This time I know we have it!"_

" _But . . . if you don't even believe in voodoo, Sir, what does it really matter if . . ."_

" _My family believes in it!" Mr. Leichter interrupted. "And all it requires is the power of suggestion. You know the depth of the angry feelings between my family line and his. He doesn't just want that amulet for regular black magic; he wants to use it to destroy my family! I have to keep it from him no matter what."_

" _Surely he'll suspect. . . ."_

" _I'm sure he will. But I have a plan to handle that, too. He wants my family? I'll give him someone born into my family, whose fate no longer concerns me. Then I'll just have to make sure he only focuses his attention on that person and no one else."_

" _You mean . . ."_

" _My son, Démas." Mr. Leichter's voice was completely cold. "He turned his back on this family and its values. I keep my back turned to him."_

" _You're just going to throw him to the wolves, Sir?!"_

" _Yes. If it saves the rest of my family . . . the wolves can have him."_

Mokuba gasped in horror and heartbreak as Gabriel finished his tale. "That's just awful!" he cried.

"You really should have stuck around and told us this yesterday," Marik said reprovingly. "It would have been valuable information to have had before anyone started getting hurt!"

"It's still valuable information now, for me."

Everyone jumped. Dr. Raven was standing at the bottom of the stairs, looking up at them. He was flanked by the woman with wild hair and two strongmen.

Mokuba's eyes flashed. "You creep! You locked Seto in the freezer and tried to have him killed!" He tried to run forward, but Marik immediately grabbed him around the waist and pulled him back.

"The police want to talk to you about that," he said frostily.

"I don't intend to give them that opportunity," Dr. Raven replied. "Nor do I intend to let all of you go free to tell the others what you have just learned."

"What?!" Gabriel cried. "You should be happy! Now you know what happened to your stupid amulet! Why wouldn't you want us to tell everyone else?!"

"Because your grandfather is a hard sell," Dr. Raven said. "I've given him several warnings by now and he hasn't paid any attention. Nor was he willing to break when you went to see him this morning and asked him straight out about the amulet. He will never reveal if he has it or where he has it. By now I have no choice but to . . . force his hand." He started to sneer. "If I do something truly devastating and irreversible, he may finally wise up and realize that I won't stop until I have the amulet."

A cold chill took hold of Marik's heart. He let go of Mokuba, pushing the boy behind him. "Get out of here!" he ordered. "You and Gabriel. Go get help!"

Mokuba's eyes widened. "What?! No way am I just going to leave you, Marik!"

Gabriel was already desperately running down the hall, trying other doorknobs. "Help!" he yelled, rattling a locked one. "There's a creep out here trying to kidnap us!"

"Go with him!" Marik barked. "Now!" He pushed Mokuba in that direction and then turned back to face Dr. Raven. "If you want a hostage, you're just going to have to settle for me."

Dr. Raven snarled. "Get the boy!" he roared at his men. "We have to have someone Mr. Leichter truly does care about for this to have the proper effect!"

The thugs tore past him and up the stairs.

Desperately praying this would work, Marik launched himself at both of them while they still had more stairs to climb. He slammed into them and they all fell back, crashing down the stairs to the bottom.

" _MARIK!"_ Mokuba screamed.

Gabriel ran over, snatching Mokuba's wrist. "Come on!" He pulled Mokuba into another unlocked apartment. "We'll go out through the balcony and get help!"

Blinking back tears, Mokuba finally went in with him. Gabriel seemed to be the main target here. He couldn't let Gabriel be taken. He would just have to pray that they could save Marik too.

In the stairwell, Dr. Raven snarled as Marik started to dazedly push himself up from the even more dazed thugs' bodies. In an instant he swung his staff, cracking Marik over the head with it. The boy groaned, slumping back across the heavies.

"Such a loyal friend, aren't you, Marik Ishtar," Dr. Raven hissed, pulling the unconscious Egyptian up by the back of his lavender shirt. "Well, let's give you a chance to prove that you truly have the greatest love of all."

"What are you going to do, Doctor?" the woman giggled. "He wasn't the one we wanted."

"I know, Amelia." Dr. Raven slung Marik over his shoulder. "But I can use him as bait to draw everyone else out. And even if I can't ensnare Gabriel, I'm sure Démas will come. No matter how much his father claims he doesn't care, he may change his tune after his youngest son is scattered across the bay."

xxxx

Seto leaned back, rubbing his eyes in utter exhaustion. After hours, he had finally finished the examination of all of Mr. Leichter's employees. He had opted not to look at only the dockworkers, but also everyone employed at the hotel and as a servant in the manor. And all he had to show for it was that every one of them appeared to be completely loyal. If they had stolen the crates, it looked to Seto that it must have been with Mr. Leichter's permission.

His phone rang and he jumped a mile. Most messages from the others had been coming through via text, since then everyone could be contacted at once. Somehow, a phone call left him with a sinking feeling. Something was wrong.

He took it out and briefly glanced at it enough to see that it was Mokuba calling before he answered. "Mokuba, what's going on?" he demanded.

"Seto!" Mokuba sounded frantic and in tears. "Dr. Raven has Marik!"

" _What?!"_ Seto nearly leaped off the couch before remembering he was still holding his laptop. "How did that happen?!"

He listened while Mokuba stumbled through the story, finishing with, "Gabriel and I hid and we saw Dr. Raven put Marik in a van and take off! We've been following as well as we can, and I think they're heading for the docks!"

"The docks?" Seto's eyes narrowed. "Maybe they're going to Mr. Leichter's warehouse."

"I don't know, but I think he's going to kill Marik, Seto!" Mokuba cried. "He said he was going to do something irreversible to try to make Mr. Leichter give him back the amulet!"

Seto set the laptop aside and got up. "Then we don't have any time to lose. I'll call the police and get everyone together. You be careful! Don't put yourself into any more danger unless you have no choice. Otherwise, wait for us to get there before acting!"

"I'll try," Mokuba quavered. "But come soon, Seto. Please!"

"I'll come as fast as I can. Keep me informed, little brother." Quickly Seto disconnected the call and sent out a text to everyone else. Upset replies immediately began to come through, but he couldn't stop to look at them right then. Instead, he dialed the police. To his relief, they believed him and promised to send some officers to find the boys. But though they advised him not to come himself, he hung up and ran for the door. Staying behind was one thing he refused to do.

xxxx

Ishizu turned several shades of pale as the text came through on her phone. "Rishid!" she exclaimed, her normally calm nature failing her.

Rishid was looking at the same message on his phone. "Marik," he said in horror.

"Kaiba thinks he's being taken to the docks," Ishizu said. "We'll have to go there right now!"

Rishid most certainly didn't disagree. He ran for their rented vehicle, only pausing long enough to open the door for Ishizu before hurrying around to the driver's side and climbing in.

Ishizu leaped in on the passenger side and pulled the door shut, her blue eyes filled with fear and terror. "This man must be either evil or insane," she exclaimed. "He's been terrorizing all of us just to get that amulet from Mr. Leichter!"

Rishid started the engine and roared away from the curb.

"And Mr. Leichter is so determined to keep it away from him, but why?" Ishizu continued. "Why would he allow so many lives to be placed on the line just for that?"

"Perhaps it's for his family," Rishid said. "He's terrified of his family being hurt with the amulet."

"But Lector is his family too!" Ishizu cried.

Rishid's eyes flickered. He felt an odd kinship with Lector, when he thought about it. They had both had loving homes in their childhoods. But when Mrs. Ishtar had died, Mr. Ishtar had allowed his true feelings for Rishid to show. It wasn't exactly the same situation, but Rishid could relate to that feeling of thinking there was a home and security and then finding out that there wasn't. For both he and Lector, they had been disowned.

. . . But at least it was also true that they still had families in spite of the rejection. And he was most certainly not going to allow Dr. Raven to murder his brother.

He stepped harder on the gas pedal.

xxxx

Marik groaned as consciousness slowly began to return. He was laying on something hard and unpleasant, and as he started to push himself up, he found that it was obviously a room in a warehouse—most likely _the_ warehouse.

"Hello?" he rasped.

No one answered. As he rubbed the back of his head and looked around, it was obvious that he was alone. The door across from him was closed and no doubt locked, and there was a dirty window not too far above him, but he doubted that was open either.

He stumbled to his feet and over to the window. It only took a brief moment of struggling with it to confirm that it was indeed locked. He growled, hitting the wooden frame in frustration before turning away. Hopefully the boys had escaped. . . .

He slowly crossed the room to the door and rattled the knob. It, of course, was also locked. He didn't have anything on him that he could use to pick the lock, either.

In frustration he went back and sat down near the window. It was unlikely that he was going to be left in here for very long; Dr. Raven had threatened apparent death to force Mr. Leichter's hand about the amulet. And judging from how dark it was in the room, he had been unconscious long enough for night to start coming on.

. . . Did he hear something ticking?

An adrenaline rush sent him to his feet. He had to get out of here. The only thing he could think of was to take off his lavender shirt, wrap it around his fist, and break the glass out of the window. He started to pull the shirt off over his head.

Knocking on the window startled him and he stopped mid-pull, whirling to look. Mokuba was on the other side of the glass, looking both frantic and relieved. "Marik!"

Marik pulled his shirt back down and hurried over to the window. "Mokuba?! You shouldn't be here!" he exclaimed.

"I wasn't going to leave you in here!" Mokuba retorted. "Everyone else is coming too."

"Where's Gabriel?!" Marik demanded.

"The police came to take him home," Mokuba said. "We told them about you and other officers are being sent here to help! I sneaked away so I wouldn't get taken back to the hotel."

That worried Marik, especially because of the discovery he had just made. "Mokuba, I think there's a bomb in here," he urgently told his friend.

"There is! And I think it might be connected to the window! There's a wire all the way around it and then it goes up on the roof over this room!"

Marik suddenly felt sick. If he had punched out the window . . .

"I'm going to try to get in and get you out," Mokuba declared. "The bomb could go off any second!"

Marik immediately snapped to. "Mokuba, you can't come in here!" he cried in horror. "What if the bomb goes off before you get me out?! And what about Dr. Raven and his men?!"

"They're not here!" Mokuba insisted. "I saw them leave. They must know the bomb's going to go off soon and they don't want to be around when it does!" He jumped down from the crate he was standing on under the window. "I'm going to get you out, Marik. I promise! And I'll be okay too."

"You'd better be," Marik said, fear for his young friend passing through his eyes.

xxxx

The Big Five's vehicle was just pulling up at the warehouse as Mokuba ran inside.

"Mokuba!" Lector burst out in alarm. He started to get out of the car. "When I called Mr. Kaiba, he said he'd told Mokuba not to act on his own unless the situation was desperate!"

Overhearing, Mokuba looked over his shoulder. "It _is_ desperate, Lector!" he called back. "Marik's trapped in there and there's a bomb!" He vanished through the doorway.

Nesbitt gritted his teeth. "The warehouse. It just _had_ to be a warehouse. With a bomb. And it has to be those kids in there. Again."

Gansley laid a hand on his shoulder. "This time, you didn't put them in there," he said. "And we're going to get them out."

Yugi was horrified too. "This is really bad," he exclaimed as they all followed Lector out of the car. Lector was already running towards the warehouse.

"It is," Atem said grimly.

As they all ran towards the warehouse, a horrific explosion resounded from the back of the building, lighting up the night sky.

"Oh my gosh!" Yugi screamed.

"There must be multiple bombs!" Nesbitt realized. He tore past Lector into the building. "They're probably going to go off at intervals that could be anywhere from several seconds to several minutes!"

"Nesbitt!" Lector yelled.

Gansley hung back from entering, realizing he would likely be more of a hindrance than a help now that things had suddenly escalated and he couldn't run fast. "This is a personal redemption for him," he told Lector. "He feels badly for what he did to them when we took over Kaiba's augmented reality game. He wants to make amends."

"I realize that, but I don't want him to get caught in the blast!" Lector shot back. He ran to catch up to his friend.

It was after he went through that the entrance began to collapse, shaken free by the force of the bomb. Everyone else jumped back.

"What the heck?!" Crump panicked.

"Now we can't get inside with them!" Yugi said in horror. "Is there even another way out?!"

"The windows," Atem said. He was staying calm despite being badly shaken by the situation. "And there should be doors on the side and back."

Johnson stared up at the building. "We'll just have to pray they find them."

Gansley gripped his cane, his knuckles chalk-white. He hadn't planned to enter, but he had thought the others would be able to. Now, Lector and Nesbitt were on their own. He prayed too.

xxxx

Inside the warehouse, unaware of the trouble outside, Mokuba was frantically running up and down the halls. "Marik!" he screamed. "Where are you?!" He stayed to the left, trying to visualize the approximate area where he had seen Marik through the window. He should really be almost there by now. . . .

Finally a door rattled. "I'm in here!"

Mokuba ran over, throwing himself against the door. It didn't budge. He looked around, at last spotting a crowbar abandoned on the floor. "Okay, I'm going to try to pull the knob off or something," he called. "Stand back."

He wrapped the crowbar around the knob, pulling with all his might. It strained, but didn't give. Not about to give up, Mokuba put one foot on the door for leverage and strained harder. _Come on! . . ._

At last, miraculously, the knob popped off, flying over Mokuba's head.

"Alright!" Mokuba kicked the door in. "Come on, Marik! Let's go!"

"You don't have to tell me twice," Marik exclaimed. "When that explosion went off, I was afraid we were both done for!"

The building rocked as a second explosion went off on the other side. By now most of the warehouse was in flames, including the room where Marik had been. Nesbitt, who was just catching up to them now, looked around in horror. "Go on ahead of me!" he ordered them both.

They took off running, Nesbitt close behind. But it wasn't long and Marik stumbled, dizzy from the movement. It was too much physical exertion after taking such a harsh blow from Dr. Raven's staff. He fell back, holding a hand to his head.

Mokuba whirled in alarm. "Marik!"

"Keep going," Marik said through gritted teeth. "I'll catch up."

"I'm not going to leave without you!" Mokuba insisted.

"I'll make sure he gets out," Nesbitt said. He went over to Marik. "You keep going. Lector's in here too; he'll help you find the way out."

Mokuba bit his lip. He didn't want to agree, but there really wasn't any time to argue. "Okay. . . ." He turned, running ahead again. He coughed, his eyes watering from the increasing smoke.

"Mokuba!" There was Lector now. "We have to go!"

"I know," Mokuba gasped.

Lector grabbed Mokuba's wrist, running for the nearest exit. But the boy was small and couldn't run as fast as Lector could. He tripped, crashing to his knees. At the same moment, another explosion rumbled practically at their feet. Without a word, Lector took Mokuba in his arms and desperately ran for the door, at the same time praying that Nesbitt and Marik would escape as well.

"We're not going to make it!" Mokuba screamed hopelessly.

"We're going to make it," Lector insisted.

At last they made it to the side door. Lector didn't slow down, instead throwing himself at it with full force. It splintered and opened. He tore outside, still clutching Mokuba.

They were still too close to the warehouse when the final explosion roared through whatever was left of the building. It was deafening and blew Lector completely off his feet, forcibly turning him about in mid-air before sending him crashing to the ground, the terrified boy still in his arms. But he could no longer hear or feel or sense anything else now. One weak groan escaped his lips and he was still. Mokuba too had fallen limp.

A shadow fell over them after a moment. "Well, what have we here?" Dr. Portman said smoothly. She bent down, pressing her fingers to Lector's throat. "Still alive, after all that? Aren't you the unconquerable one."

She took a hypodermic needle out of her purse. "I think it's time for some direct interference from me. Let's just see what kind of events can be set in motion by introducing this little factor." She injected the unknown substance into Lector's arm and leaned back. In a moment his skin paled and she again reached to check his pulse. "Perfect."

She stood, vanishing into the shadows.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen**

The explosion was still ringing through Mokuba's ears as he slowly regained consciousness. He was laying sprawled across Lector, and as he forced his eyes open, he could feel that the man's arm was still around him.

"Lector?" he mumbled. "Are you okay?"

The silence startled Mokuba more fully back to consciousness. Lector was very still, and now Mokuba could feel that his chest was not rising and falling. The boy scrambled down in an instant. "Lector!" He frantically shook his former caretaker's shoulder. "Come on! You've gotta get up! . . . You've gotta . . ."

He blinked back forming tears. Lector had protected him from the blast, but it was clear he hadn't survived it. Still, Mokuba didn't want to believe it.

"Lector . . ."

Mokuba slumped forward in despair. He wasn't strong enough to perform CPR, especially on a big man like Lector. But he would have to try. He might have better luck with artificial respiration.

He pressed down in desperation, but it was soon obvious that yes, he couldn't possibly press hard enough to make a difference. He turned his attention to the artificial respiration, pushing breath into the stilled chest with all his might, then leaning back to see if Lector could start breathing on his own.

"Come on," Mokuba whispered. "Breathe, Lector! Breathe. . . ."

He wasn't sure how long he tried before he finally had to concede defeat. Either he just wasn't strong enough for this either . . . or Lector was just beyond help, no matter what anyone did.

The tears finally broke free. "Why can't I ever help anyone?" Mokuba sobbed. "Why can't I bring you back? You're dead . . . because of me. . . ."

And what about Nesbitt and Marik?! Mokuba looked around wildly. They were nowhere to be seen. They had to have gotten out! They couldn't have still been trapped in there. . . .

"Help!" he called in desperation. "Guys, please . . ."

When no one answered, Mokuba shivered. Not knowing what else to do, he finally laid down next to Lector and let his eyes close. "Please wake up," he begged, without much hope. "Please. . . ."

He slipped into a strange state that seemed to be halfway between awareness and slumber, wandering through a dream that was mostly made up of past memories involving Lector: some during the time when he had been their caretaker, some when Lector had betrayed them, and some . . . after. Over and over, he felt the terror of their flight from the doomed building, found Lector lifting him up when he couldn't run fast enough. Then the explosion, ringing through his ears, leaving Lector laying dead.

xxxx

Nesbitt groaned as consciousness began to return, making him very aware of a heavy weight across his chest. He automatically reached to push it away before the realization dawned and he stopped. "The kid. . . ."

He opened his eyes. Indeed, Marik was laying sprawled horizontally across Nesbitt, where he had fallen since Nesbitt had been carrying him in his arms when the explosion happened. He groaned as well. "Mokuba . . ."

A cold chill went through Nesbitt's veins. That was right; he hadn't seen Mokuba or Lector as they had fled the building. They had either left through a different door . . . or they hadn't left at all.

Frantic footsteps brought both of their attention up. Seto was running towards them, followed closely by Ishizu, Rishid, Gansley, Crump, and Johnson.

"Marik!" Ishizu cried.

Marik pushed himself away from Nesbitt. "I'm alright," he slurred. "Just a little dizzy." He fell into Ishizu's arms as she knelt and embraced him. "Mokuba got me out of the room I was in just before it caught fire. . . . Then Nesbitt got me out the rest of the way. . . ." He looked to Nesbitt. "Thank you. . . ."

Nesbitt grunted. "I was paying a debt." He sat up, rubbing his head.

"Perhaps, but we are still immeasurably grateful to both you and Mokuba," Rishid said.

Ishizu nodded. "You'll have to stay here with us, Marik, until you get some more of your strength back," she insisted.

Marik couldn't deny he wasn't sure he could stand at this point; the blow he had taken had been bad enough, and this experience certainly hadn't helped. "But . . . Mokuba . . ."

Rishid hugged them both. "Mokuba isn't here?!"

"No," Marik said hopelessly.

"Nesbitt, are you alright?!" Gansley demanded.

Nesbitt glanced to him. "Yes. . . . But Mokuba was with Lector. . . . I . . . I don't know where they are! . . ." He looked around, feeling helpless.

Without another word, Seto took off running and went around a corner. "Mokuba!" he called. They had to be here, somewhere. . . . They had to be, because if they weren't . . .

No, he wouldn't let his mind go there.

He turned another corner and ground to a halt. Lector was laying lifeless on the ground, Mokuba curled up equally still next to him.

Seto's heart nearly stopped. "Mokuba!" He ran over, fearing what he would find.

Instead, Mokuba stirred, looking up at Seto with heartbroken eyes. "Seto. . . . He's dead, Seto! He was protecting me and now he's dead!" The tears spilled over. "Why do people keep getting hurt because of me?! It's not fair! It's not . . ."

Seto took Mokuba in his arms, holding him close. "It's not because of you," he said, even though he knew it wouldn't help. "They make their own decisions."

"To help me," Mokuba whispered.

"Just like you made a decision to save Marik," Seto said. "He might be dead if it wasn't for you."

"I'm sure Nesbitt or Lector would have got him out," Mokuba mumbled.

"Maybe not in time," Seto said. "Once the place started burning, it went fast. They didn't know where Marik was, either, but you did. You were able to act faster than they could have, since you had that valuable knowledge."

"I guess."

"Mokuba, I'm proud of you," Seto said. "I know Marik is too. And I'm sure Lector was."

Mokuba choked back a sob, burrowing against Seto's shoulder.

Seto looked to the lifeless form on the ground. _Lector . . . you kept your promise. You protected Mokuba with your life._

At last Mokuba pulled back, looking from Seto to Lector. "Do you know if Marik's okay?" he asked. "And Nesbitt?"

"They're alright," Seto said. "Marik's just kind of dazed." And he couldn't help thinking, _If only Lector could have found the same exit they did. . . ._

"Oh, that's good," Mokuba said in relief. At least something was going right. . . .

Seto nodded. _And at least you're still safe, thanks to Lector. . . ._

"What are we going to do, Seto?" Mokuba suddenly asked, his voice plaintive and crushed.

Seto really didn't know. He could only say, "I could arrange for Lector's burial. Although his friends may want to do that."

"They probably will," Mokuba said weakly. "This will crush them. . . ."

Seto frowned. It no doubt would. They were a very close-knit group; the loss of one of them would not be handled well.

That was an understatement. The Big Four were running up now.

"How on Earth did they get over here?!" Gansley cried.

Johnson stopped short. "I don't think Lector's alright," he gasped, shaken.

"Of course he's alright," Gansley shot back.

"He has to be," Crump said. But he could see it didn't look hopeful.

Mokuba looked up at them, heartbroken. "I'm sorry, guys," he choked out. "He's really gone. I tried and tried to get him back, but . . . I couldn't. . . ."

Nesbitt stiffened. He ran over, dropping to his knees next to the still form. "Lector, get up!" he ordered. "Get _up!_ " He shook his friend on the shoulder. When there was no response, he just stood up and stared, still not wanting to believe it.

 _Lector can't be dead. It's too impossible._

He snarled and turned, picking up a fallen metal rod from the wreckage.

"Nesbitt?!" Gansley exclaimed. "What are you doing?!"

"Something we're all very familiar with," Nesbitt retorted. "Taking revenge!" He turned, running around the side of the warehouse's skeletal remains.

Mokuba cringed. "Oh no. . . ."

Gansley stared after him. Then, shaking, he dropped to one knee and touched Lector's shoulder. "Lector. . . . Are you truly gone then?"

"I wish he wasn't," Mokuba trembled. "Like I said, I was trying to get him back. Nothing worked. . . ."

"Maybe for you, it wouldn't," Gansley said, thinking along the same lines Mokuba had, that the boy wouldn't be strong enough.

"I'll try," Johnson volunteered.

But his attempts met with the same result. He finally pulled back, staring at the other man. His normally tan skin had such a pale cast to it. "He's dead," Johnson whispered, shaken and devastated. "I . . . I can't deal with this. . . ."

"Come on, Buddy!" Crump suddenly cried. "You're not really leaving us, are you?! You're not. . . . You can't. . . ." He sank to his knees, staring at their fallen comrade.

Mokuba looked away, trembling. For a moment he had still had some hope.

Seto drew Mokuba close and the boy turned and hugged him tight. "What about Nesbitt?" Seto asked. "Do you have any idea where he might be going?"

"Probably to Lector's father," Gansley said. "And we'd better go after him before he gets himself killed as well."

Crump swallowed hard. He didn't want to leave Lector, but Gansley had a very good point. They couldn't lose another friend too.

"Okay," he said with a heavy sigh. "You'll look after him until we come back, won't you?"

Seto gave a grave nod. "Not that there's much we can do now. But we'll take him away from here. Come to the hotel when you're done."

"You won't . . . turn him over to the ambulance or call the morgue or something yourself, will you?" Crump asked.

"I probably should, but I won't . . . unless you don't come back within a reasonable amount of time," Seto replied. "We'll have him at the hotel."

"Thanks," Crump said quietly.

Gansley nodded in approval. "And we want him buried in Domino City," he said with a heavy heart, his voice cracking. "His father may suddenly decide that in death he wants his son reinstated and be buried in a family tomb here. But that isn't what Lector would want. I have an extra plot bought when I was married and had thought it would last. I want Lector to have it."

"We all want that," Crump said. "He should be with us, not with some jerk who stopped caring about him while he was alive."

"Hopefully you won't have any trouble with that," Seto said. "If the father does have a change of heart, he could make a lot of trouble for you."

"And we'd make a lot of trouble right back," Gansley said darkly. "We're Lector's true family."

"I can't deny that," Seto said. "But you'd better get after Nesbitt now."

Crump sighed and gripped Lector's shoulder. "See you later, Buddy," he whispered.

Johnson stayed where he was, kneeling at Lector's side, staring blankly into the other man's face.

"Johnson?" Gansley reached for his shoulder. "You have to come now. We can't risk losing Nesbitt as well."

Slowly Johnson got to his feet, moving almost mechanically. He said nothing.

"Johnson, are you alright?" Crump stared at him.

Still nothing.

"Oh my gosh," Mokuba whispered. "He's . . . he's checked out. . . ."

"Catatonic," Seto realized.

Gansley looked up at Johnson in horror, then back down to Lector. "Farewell." He started to get up, then paused and checked for a pulse one final time before giving up. It looked to Mokuba like the old man grasped Lector's hand far longer than was necessary to search for what was not there. As he stood, his eyes looked far older and more tired than Mokuba ever remembered seeing before.

"We have to go," Gansley said to Crump and Johnson.

Although Johnson walked with them, he still refused to speak. Crump drew an arm around his shoulders, devastated. "I knew you were gonna have to face your pain someday, Pal," he said quietly. "I just never thought it would be like this."

"Face it?" Gansley countered. "He still can't face it. This is another act of utter denial."

Mokuba turned away, blinking back tears. Gansley was holding it together the best, but when he had a moment to himself, Mokuba couldn't help wondering if he would be the one to break down crying. Nesbitt too, maybe, when the fire died out.

"Come on, Mokuba," Seto said quietly when the three men left. "We have to take him away."

Mokuba sniffled but pulled back, swiping at his eyes. "Yeah. . . ."

They both started when the Ishtars and Téa came running over to them. "What happened?!" Téa cried out in horror and shock.

Mokuba looked away. "Lector's dead," he trembled. "He died saving me. . . ."

"Oh no. . . ." Marik came over to his friend, and Mokuba hugged him tightly. "I'm so sorry. . . ."

"I'm glad you're okay, Marik," Mokuba whispered. "You and Nesbitt. . . . I couldn't figure out where you were. . . ."

"We went out a different exit than you did," Marik said. "I was so dizzy I didn't know up from down. I'm alright now," he quickly added.

"We need to get Lector out of here," Seto said.

"I'll have Yami Bakura bring his van over here," Marik said. He took out his phone while still keeping one arm around Mokuba. The conversation was brief, but positive. Yami Bakura was just arriving and would come.

"Do the others know?" Téa asked.

"Yeah, and Nesbitt went running off to get revenge," Mokuba sniffled. "The others went after him. They don't want him to die too. . . ."

"No, of course not," Téa said softly.

"And Johnson won't talk," Mokuba continued. "He tried to wake Lector up, and when he couldn't, he just . . . froze. . . ."

"Oh no," Téa gasped.

The van the Bakuras had rented pulled up and Yami Bakura got out, looking grim. "What do you want done?" he asked.

"Help me get him into the van," Seto said.

Yami Bakura nodded and opened the sliding door. Between himself, Seto, and Rishid, they were able to lift the big man onto the middle seat. "What are we doing with him?" Yami Bakura wondered.

"We'll go back to the hotel and take him in the back way," Seto said. "His friends can decide what to do next when they come. And we have to leave quickly. If the police see, they'll probably insist we turn him over now. The others want more of a chance to say Goodbye first."

Yami Bakura grunted, but didn't voice an objection. He went back to the driver's seat while the other new passengers were climbing inside as well. Mokuba sat between Seto and Marik on the back seat, blinking back new tears.

 _If only Lector was only sleeping. . . ._

"He can't be dead!" Mokuba suddenly burst out. "He was alive just an hour ago. . . ."

A haunted look passed through Seto's eyes. "That's how death is sometimes."

Mokuba slumped against him, tears brimming in his eyes. "It's not right," he sobbed. "It's not!"

Seto held him close and looked to Marik in despair. Mokuba might not remember, but they had shared a conversation very similar to this when their parents had died.

Marik laid a hand on Mokuba's shoulder, feeling helpless. If he hadn't been kidnapped, this might not have happened. But it couldn't have really been prevented; it was either him or the younger boys.

"And he didn't want to die!" Mokuba continued. "He wanted to be with his friends. I took that away from him!"

"Mokuba, you didn't," Marik firmly told him.

"Dr. Raven did," Seto added. "And we're going to see that he pays for it."

"But that won't bring Lector back," Mokuba whispered.

"No," Marik agreed. "Nothing can do that."

"All we can do is try to stop him from killing anyone else," Seto said.

Mokuba didn't reply. He clutched Seto close, staring out the window with heartbroken eyes.

xxxx

Gansley was tightly gripping the steering wheel with both hands as he drove towards the Leichter manor. He was reeling, unable to believe what was happening even though he knew it was.

Everything was falling apart. They had left Lector lying dead on some exploded dock. Nesbitt had run off in rage and Johnson was too shellshocked to even speak. And ironically, Crump, who was normally the one having a panic attack when everything went wrong, was keeping it together relatively well.

"Johnson, come on!" he cried. "Don't do this! Are you gonna tear another hole in the gang?! I don't know how we're gonna stand it without Lector as it is! And you're checking out too?! You're just gonna leave us to deal with Nesbitt? And what if Nesbitt gets shot or something when he goes after that creep?! Me and Gansley would be all alone!"

 _Relatively_ being the key word.

". . . This must be how Lector felt when we were all dead," Gansley finally spoke.

Crump looked to him. "Helpless? Lost? Like the whole world just exploded in our faces?!"

"Exactly," Gansley said.

". . . I can't believe he's really gone, just like that," Crump choked out. "It's a nightmare. . . . I feel like I'm gonna wake up and he'll be here, telling me it was just a dream. . . ."

"Well, he won't," Gansley growled. "We'll just have to accept that our friend is dead."

Crump stared at him. "Come on! You can't really be that willing to just shove him aside!"

"What can I do, Crump?" Gansley retorted. "He's been taken away from us. It will only hurt worse to deny that fact."

"I think for me it'd hurt worse to try to accept it right now," Crump said. "It's just too much. . . . I can't accept that I'm never gonna hear his voice again, or see one of those annoyed looks again, or stumble in on him and Nesbitt arguing. . . ."

Gansley was clutching the steering wheel ever tighter the more Crump spoke. He badly looked like he wanted to scream at Crump to stop it, that it was torturing him worse to have to hear of Lector's absence in every particular, but instead he kept quiet and just let Crump ramble on.

Suddenly realizing that he was nervously spinning the light blue ring around his finger, Crump looked down at it with a start. "And what about these?" he wondered. "That weird guy said we couldn't unlock the full power of these things if we're not all there. You don't think there's any chance . . ."

"Don't fool yourself, Crump," Gansley sharply cut in. "We received a miracle. But miracles don't always happen. You can't constantly be looking for them or you'll forget to live in the here and now and make your own miracles."

"But . . . it's just . . . if we were allowed to live so we could join this fight, then wouldn't the same thing go for Lector . . . ?" Crump let go of the ring and looked to where Johnson was sitting perfectly straight, his hands in his lap. The green ring on his right hand caught the light of every streetlight they passed.

"I don't know," Gansley finally admitted. His voice sounded as heavy as his heart felt.

". . . Maybe Johnson was right." Crump suddenly sounded bitter. "It does seem like the universe is ganging up on Lector more than the rest of us."

"We're all suffering here, Crump," Gansley snapped. "When someone who is loved dies, a part of everyone who loved them dies with them."

"Yeah." Crump swallowed hard. "And for some people, a bigger chunk dies than for some other people. . . ."

Johnson didn't so much as blink.

Crump turned away, covering his eyes with a hand as his shoulders silently shook. If he was crying, he wouldn't admit it. And Gansley wasn't about to point it out.

He just let himself die a little more on the inside as he drove.

xxxx

Mr. Leichter leaned back in his chair, smoking his pipe as he looked over several documents from that day's work. All was peaceful and quiet, but he was still tense. The explosives at the warehouse should have gone off by now. All evidence of his theft of the crates should be erased, and with any luck, Dr. Raven would get blamed for the sabotage and be safely out of the way in jail. But for some reason, he felt so uneasy. . . .

The lamp suddenly soared off the desk and crashed to the floor. A metal rod gleamed in the now-darkened room.

The old businessman leaped to his feet, eyes flashing. "What's going on?!" he demanded. "Who's here?!"

A figure stepped into the stream of light from the open door into the hall. His brown eyes were on fire. "I just came to tell you that your son is dead," a familiar voice snarled.

Mr. Leichter frowned. "Nesbitt, is it? Let me tell you, that is not a good joke, son."

Nesbitt slammed the rod on the desk. _"It's not a joke! And how dare you call me 'son'!"_ His eyes flashed with outrage and pain. "Just tell me something. Where do you get off disowning your actual son, not even caring when he falls into a coma and getting everyone else not to care either, and then out of the blue asking him to come down here and fix a problem that you got into yourself?!"

"Now see here!" Mr. Leichter glared daggers at his intruder. "He'd already been in plenty of messes. I thought he might be able to clean up this one better than I could. I was thinking of the company, of everyone in it, of my family . . ."

"All except him!" Nesbitt snapped. "Sure, you cared about all the family you've got out here, the ones who might be affected by Dr. Raven attacking them to get at you. But you couldn't care less about the son you rejected. You got him out here hoping he'd be a scapegoat, and he was! Raven thought he was you at first. Then he thought that he'd use him to let you know he meant business! He didn't know you didn't care! He didn't know!"

With every sentence he swiped at something else with his metal rod. Paperweights, miniature statues, file folders, all went flying off the desk and to the floor. Mr. Leichter simply stared at him, more in disbelief from his words than his actions. When Nesbitt had emptied the desk of all its contents, he sank to his knees with a despondent, choked cry, still holding his weapon.

"You didn't love him anymore, but I did," he said. "All of us did. And I never told him . . . but I'm telling you." Disbelief filled his voice. "I never told him. . . ."

". . . _You_ love him?" Mr. Leichter's voice suddenly cut through the darkness.

Nesbitt looked up in further disbelief. "You don't even think it's possible for someone to still care about him?!" he cried, his voice all but strangled.

"I mean, I didn't think you could love anyone," Mr. Leichter exclaimed. "You're the one who loves machines and not people, aren't you? You don't even _like_ people, let alone love them!"

Nesbitt leaned on the metal rod. "You've been spying on all of us," he realized.

"Of course I have," Mr. Leichter retorted. "Or at least, I did back then. I learned something about every one of you people after he started running with you. Mr. Gansley is the leader, the one who sees everything like a business decision. Mr. Johnson is the crooked lawyer, always smooth, not above cheating to get what he wants. Mr. Crump is the idiot who adores penguins and pretty young girls."

"He has reasons why he likes penguins," Nesbitt growled. He had never thought he'd be defending Crump on that. Slowly he pushed himself to his feet, using the rod as a support. "And you may have learned something that's technically true about all of us, but your private detectives neglected to mention the most important things. We're loyal to each other and we don't give up on each other when times are tough. We've been through Hell, and the only reason we made it through is because we were together.

"There were times when we didn't fully appreciate or understand what we have. You're right; I wasn't interested in people for years. I preferred my machines. I understood them. I was never able to understand people. When I met the others, I didn't understand them either. And I never thought they would become more important to me than any machine ever could be. Back then, the very thought was laughable to me at best.

"I still don't understand people. There are a lot of things I don't understand about the other four men. But I don't need to understand everything or to agree with everything they do. All I really need to know is that they're my friends . . . my true family. And I never thought I would love any humans so deeply or that I would even know what it felt like if I did. But I know.

"I suppose your spies also told you that your son and I have never got along well, that we have spats and sometimes he calls me a fool and I call him names too. But unfortunately, he's usually right about me being a fool. I'm impulsive and hot-headed and I've made a mess out of things more than once. And he never gives up on me no matter what. Sure, sometimes he's mad at me and I'm mad at him, but we never forget our loyalty. We would never _dream_ of disowning each other!"

Mr. Leichter had stayed silent all through Nesbitt's tirade, just staring at him, stunned and surprised and amazed by the depth of his feelings.

"Sure, there are some biological families that stick together through everything," Nesbitt said, "but this family isn't one of them. I've never seen a family worse off than this one." He looked with fury at the older man in front of him. "If we had known what you really had in mind for Lector, we would have fought with everything we had to keep him away from here. This time, he was a fool. But so were all the rest of us!" He trembled. "Who could have ever believed the depth of your hatred for your son?! I never even told him how much I care about him . . . and now, thanks to you, I'll never have that chance."

Finally Mr. Leichter approached him. "He . . . he's really dead?"

"Yes," Nesbitt spat, "and I'll never forgive you for that." He started to get up, clutching the rod so tightly his knuckles were white. "I was there. I saw him laying dead after he saved Seto Kaiba's little brother from Dr. Raven's deathtrap at your warehouse."

Mr. Leichter went sheet-white. "The warehouse?" he rasped.

"Dr. Raven must have set up the explosion to destroy property you owned," Nesbitt said bitterly. "He was bragging about killing someone there. I took this rod from the wreckage of the building. And the only thing stopping me from killing you with it right now is knowing that for some reason, your son probably still wouldn't want me to. But I'll ruin you somehow. You're going to pay for this. I'll see to it that you'll never stop paying. Dr. Raven may have actually set off the explosion, but Lector never would have been caught in it if it wasn't for you. You tricked him to his death. You killed my brother and you don't even care!" He turned, slipping into the shadows as he disappeared from the room.

Mr. Leichter stared after him for a long moment, still reeling in disbelief. Then he sank to his knees, overwhelmed. "My son," he whispered. "My son is dead. . . ."

He picked up one of the fallen items, a paperweight his son had given him one year for his birthday. He clutched it close, trembling.

"Oh, Démas," he choked out. "What happened to us? To me? And what has become of you? I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

He couldn't even say Nesbitt's accusations were wrong. But he had never really intended on this outcome, even though in the back of his mind he had known it might happen, and now it was too late to fix any of it.

"It's my fault," he whispered in horror. "He was caught in the explosion I rigged. . . ."

" _You_ rigged it, Daddy?!"

He went stiff. Evangeline had come to the doorway and he hadn't even noticed.

Her voice climbed in outraged disbelief. "You killed Démas?!"

He straightened, sheet-white. "No!" he cried. "The explosion . . . I only set it to . . . to . . ."

"To make it look like you didn't steal those crates?!" Evangeline's eyes flashed. "Gabriel heard you talking when you were taking them. He didn't want to get you in trouble, but he finally confessed today. Adele was just talking to me about it. I was coming to talk to you when I heard that man screaming." She trembled. "You killed my brother!"

"I didn't even know he'd be there when the bombs went off!" Mr. Leichter finally burst out, his voice strangled. "He wasn't supposed to be there! Dr. Raven was supposed to get blamed!"

"Démas was there," Evangeline spat. "Dr. Raven set things up to kill somebody to force you to give him back some amulet you stole from him! And the person who got killed was Démas! And for what?!"

Mr. Leichter's hands shook. He straightened, crossing the room to his desk. As he opened the top drawer, he took out a locked metal box and opened it. "For this," he rasped.

Evangeline came over to look. A jade, diamond-shaped amulet was nestled inside.

In an instant she grabbed it, clenching it in a shaking fist. "You let Démas die for this?!" she shrieked. "You didn't just give Dr. Raven his amulet to protect your son?!"

"He would have used it to attack this entire family!" Mr. Leichter boomed. "You know about the bitter feelings between our families!"

"But it didn't matter if he attacked Démas?!" Angry tears spilled from Evangeline's eyes. "You were willing to give him up?!"

"Yes," Mr. Leichter said without hesitation. "Only now he really is gone . . . and by my hand. . . ."

Evangeline screamed. And as her emotions boiled over, the amulet started to glow. Tendrils of jade-colored mist began to swirl around her as a magical wind caught her long hair and blew it upward. "What's . . . what's happening?!" she cried.

Mr. Leichter backed up against the desk. "Oh no," he said in horror. "It's true! The amulet . . . it really does have powers that react to strong emotions! Evangeline, darling, you have to calm down! You have to . . ."

" _Calm down?!"_ Evangeline's voice echoed eerily through the room. "You killed my brother and you want me to _calm down?!_ " She placed the still-glowing amulet around her neck. Her eyes were now giving off a matching glow as her magic lifted her several inches off the floor. "I'll never calm down! I'll avenge what you did! And don't think Dr. Raven will be off the hook either! You'll both pay, and pay dearly!" Magic crackled at her fingertips.

"Evangeline!" Mr. Leichter shouted in desperation. But it was no use. The amulet had completely taken her over. She gave him a cold look just before blasting him with her newfound powers.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen**

It was when Nesbitt was leaving Mr. Leichter's house, his anger spent, that the utter emptiness of grief crashed down on him like a vise. Everything he had been screaming about in there suddenly became very real in a way he hadn't let it before.

 _Lector was laying on the ground, so still. . . ._

 _He was dead. He was never coming back this time._

How could he really be gone? He had been around through everything. . . . He had been there when Nesbitt had first joined KaibaCorp. Nesbitt had seen him practically every day since then. They had all become so close-knit, even staying together constantly once they had become trapped in virtual reality. It was hard for them to not stay together now that they were back in the real world. They were always staying over at each other's houses, usually using the partially-true excuse that it would be easier to plan their project that way. Really, they just didn't want to be apart.

 _Lector was gone. . . . He was never coming back. . . ._

They didn't get along very well most of the time; they saw the world so differently. What had Nesbitt said to him last? Had it been civil? He couldn't even remember.

And . . . what if Lector's death was his fault? Maybe if Nesbitt had taken Mokuba and Lector had taken Marik, and Lector had gone out the exit Nesbitt had found, Lector would have survived. . . .

 _He would never see Lector again. Not until he was dead too. . . ._

Nesbitt gasped, stumbling forward, holding a shaking hand to his heart. He had never felt anything like this before. The tightening in his throat, the knotting in his stomach . . . the utter despair. He had thought he knew what loss was when he had been forced to blow up his own compound as a show of loyalty to Seto Kaiba. Now he knew what it really was. It was worse than he had ever imagined. And he wasn't strong enough to deal with it. It was too horrible, too crushing, too . . .

"Nesbitt?!"

He turned. Gansley was hurrying over to him in concern. Crump was following behind, keeping an arm around an oddly quiet and blank-eyed Johnson. The pain of loss stood in their eyes, but seeing him still alive brought some amount of relief to their expressions. Even Johnson perked up slightly.

"What were you doing in there?!" Crump exclaimed. "Did you kill the guy?!"

Nesbitt straightened, and Crump rocked back in shock. Nesbitt's eyes were emotionless and dead. "Greetings, humans," he intoned. "No, I did not terminate the being inside that residence. He's perfectly fine."

"Nesbitt, what on Earth are you talking about?!" Gansley demanded. "You sound as though you're pretending to be a robot again."

"I am not pretending," Nesbitt replied. "I am an android. I have never been alive. I do not know love, but I also do not know grief. I cannot process unnecessary human emotions. They only weigh down the mind and devastate the body."

"He's gone nuts!" Crump cried in horror.

Johnson looked shaken. "Nesbitt, no . . ."

Gansley and Crump started. "Johnson?!" Gansley exclaimed.

"You're back with us!" Crump said in relief.

"When I saw Nesbitt's state, it brought me out of mine," Johnson said, his hand shaking as he adjusted his glasses. "I can't lose control of myself while Nesbitt is like this!"

"But what the heck does it mean?!" Crump wailed.

"He's telling us what he did to himself and why," Johnson realized. "He can't take Lector's death. The only way he could deal with it was to tell himself he's not human. Then he doesn't have to experience the grief."

That didn't make Crump feel any better. "What're we gonna do?!" he yelped.

Gansley frowned. "Will you come back to the hotel with us?" he asked Nesbitt.

"Affirmative," Nesbitt replied. "But I will not enter."

"He doesn't wanna be where Lector was," Crump realized.

"Or maybe he even suspects we have his body there," Johnson said.

Gansley looked to the others. "Getting him to the hotel is the best that can be done for now. But if he doesn't come out of this on his own, or if we can't find someone to help him . . . then we have lost two and not only one."

Johnson looked down, stricken.

Crump wasn't willing to accept that. "You hear that?!" He ran to Nesbitt and grabbed him by the shoulders, violently shaking him. "You think it isn't bad enough for us to lose poor Lector?! We've gotta lose you too?! Come on! Don't be so selfish! We're all grieving here!"

Nesbitt didn't react. When Crump finally let him go, he only replied, "Such a display of emotional vulnerability never happens with a machine."

Crump could only gawk at him. Ordinarily, Nesbitt would be on fire if he was shaken like that.

"Don't bother, Crump," Johnson said, laying a hand on the stressed man's shoulder. "He's retreated so deeply into his mind, I don't know how we're going to get him to come out."

"The one person who might be able to help him is the one person who can't," Gansley said sadly.

xxxx

The mood in the hotel suite was tense and sorrowful. Not having a key to the Big Five's suite, Seto had had little choice but to take Lector's body to his and wait for the others to come. Yami Bakura had uncomfortably departed, but the Ishtars and Téa were still there, concerned about Mokuba.

"Maybe someone should have gone with them," Téa said quietly from across the room.

"Probably," Seto said. "Everyone was too shaken up about Lector to think about that." A text came in and he looked at it. ". . . Correction, some of them did. Yugi, the Pharaoh, and some of the others went after them."

"Do you think Nesbitt will actually kill Lector's father?" Téa wondered in concern.

"I can't honestly say it isn't out of the question," Seto said. "All of this _was_ his fault. If he hadn't tricked Lector into coming out here and then continued to lie, he might still be alive."

"This can't be good for Mokuba." Marik looked over his shoulder at the younger boy. Mokuba was just staring sadly at Lector, who had been laid on an old-fashioned, straight-backed couch.

"If they don't come back soon, I'll probably call the morgue myself," Seto said. "I don't know why I agreed to this."

"Maybe you feel you owe Lector something," Téa said quietly. "He gave his life for Mokuba. And . . . you have some idea how the others feel to lose him."

Seto couldn't deny that.

A knock on the door came moments later. Cautious and alert, Seto went over to it while Marik and Téa stayed back with Mokuba. "Who is it?" Seto gruffly called.

"It's us," came Johnson's voice.

Mokuba started. "Johnson's talking again. . . ."

Seto unlocked the door and opened it, but frowned more to see only three coming in. "Where's Nesbitt?"

Gansley passed a weary hand over his face. "Outside. He won't come in. We met Yugi and the Pharaoh on our way back and left them down there to watch him." He sank down in a chair near Lector without being invited.

Mokuba looked over. "Why?"

"He's flipped," Crump exclaimed.

Seto tensed. "Is he still violent?" Protectiveness for Mokuba flashed through his eyes. It wasn't hard to think that Nesbitt might blame Mokuba for Lector's death.

"No, he isn't." Johnson looked awkward and uneasy. "It's a little hard to explain. . . ."

As long as Mokuba wasn't in danger, Seto really wasn't interested right now. "I'd appreciate it if you take Lector away," he said. "It only makes it harder for Mokuba to have him here."

"We'll take him," Johnson coolly replied.

But they didn't go immediately. Gansley stayed sitting where he was, looking both haunted and twenty years older. He stared blankly at the floor, resting both hands on the handle of his cane. Crump restlessly paced the floor, back and forth, unable to hold still. Johnson stood near the window, staring out at the city.

Not wanting to rush them yet feeling Mokuba shouldn't stay in this environment, Marik finally said to him, "Why don't you come to our room for a while, Mokuba?"

Mokuba looked up gratefully. "Thanks, Marik. . . . I probably won't be very good company, though. . . ."

"That's alright," Marik said firmly.

Seto was also relieved. "You do that."

"I just have to do one thing first," Mokuba said.

Seto, Téa, and the Ishtars exchanged a sickened look, certain they knew what he had in mind.

Indeed, Mokuba stepped closer to Lector, staring down at him, still hoping—praying, even—for some movement. Even though by now he knew it wouldn't happen, he couldn't help still hoping it would. The man just looked so much like he was sleeping. . . .

"Goodbye, Lector," Mokuba whispered. "Thank you. . . ." But it sounded so hollow, so inadequate. He fell to his knees as the tears came again.

A slight movement. Lector stirred, turning his head to the side as he tried to lift his fingers off the couch. "You . . . you're crying for me?" he rasped in awed amazement.

Mokuba jumped a mile. So did everyone else in the room. "Lector?!" He stared in greater awe. "You're alive?!"

"It looks like it." Lector slowly sat up, grimacing at the pain. He brought a hand to his head.

"Lector!" Gansley got up, endowed with new strength, and hurried over, followed by Crump and Johnson.

"Buddy!" Crump hugged Lector without warning, startling him. "They did let you come back!"

"How is this possible?!" Johnson exclaimed.

"I tried so hard to bring you back," Mokuba said. "Nothing worked. . . . Johnson tried too. . . ."

"I . . . I can't imagine," Lector stammered, still bewildered. "It wasn't like I was dead. . . . I thought I was just unconscious from the blast. I heard you crying and I was able to force myself to wake up."

Seto and the others were just staring, reeling. Finally Seto shook his head. He wasn't even going to try to figure this one out.

"This is wonderful," Téa whispered in amazed relief.

"Lector." Seto looked down at the confused man. "You saved Mokuba. You have my gratitude. Whatever medical help you need from this, I will pay for."

Lector looked up at him with a start. "That's not necessary, Mr. Kaiba."

"No, but it's a debt I owe you now," Seto said.

"While I appreciate your consideration, I really think I'm alright," Lector awkwardly said. "I've just got a headache and . . ." He frowned. "My arm hurts. . . ." He pushed the sleeve up, only to be greeted by a small puncture wound. "What the . . ."

Gansley stared at it. "You've been injected with something."

Johnson took Lector's arm, raising it for a closer look. "And if I had to make a guess, I'd say it was something to make us think you were dead," he said, sounding uncharacteristically dark in his anger. "It slowed your pulse and breathing so much that we couldn't find them. Either that or it stopped them altogether and put you into suspended animation. But . . . hypodermic needles don't exactly seem like Dr. Raven's style. . . ."

"Portman," Seto hissed. "She followed us here!"

Mokuba stared. "You really think it was her, Seto?!"

"Who else would use needles to achieve this result?" Seto said darkly. "Dr. Raven would probably use some kind of potion or herb and Yami Marik would use . . ." He scowled. _"Magic."_ He spit the word out like it tasted bad, and indeed, to him it likely did. "But Dr. Portman would use science."

Lector's eyes flashed. "I don't know why she finds us so interesting. But I won't forgive her bringing all of this heartache and pain down on all of you."

Gansley was sickened. "We let her go because we were darkly amused by the thought that she might cause trouble for Mr. Kaiba. Instead, she mostly causes trouble for us."

"Yeah, and Lector wasn't part of that, but he's getting hurt a lot in her schemes," Mokuba scowled.

"We've all been hurt here," Johnson said with a glance at Gansley.

"Yeah," Mokuba said softly. "But . . . I'm so glad you're okay, Lector. . . ." He smiled. "The other members of the Big Five and me . . . we didn't know how we were going to stand it without you. . . ."

Lector regarded him in surprise. "You, Mokuba? . . . We haven't been close in a long time. . . ."

"But we're getting to be close again," Mokuba said. "And you saved me. You nearly died saving me! I . . . I don't want people getting hurt because of me!"

Lector laid a hand on Mokuba's shoulder. "Unfortunately, that's what can happen when people care. I didn't want all the others to get hurt because of me." He looked up at Gansley, Crump, and Johnson. "But they all gave their lives for me. I didn't know how I was going to stand it either."

"We never meant to die," Gansley said. "As I know you didn't."

"Yeah. . . ." Mokuba looked down. "I know a lot of people wonder if it's worth the caring when there's so much pain because of it. . . ."

"What do you think, Mokuba?" Seto asked.

"I think . . ." Mokuba thought about it for a long moment. "I really don't know how life would even be worth living if I was all alone. . . ." His voice cracked. "If I never had anyone to begin with, or if I had them and lost them, I'd be alone either way. I think it'd be worse to have never known my family and friends, because the light they gave me would always be there, even if they weren't. But . . . maybe I'd feel different if I'd never met them. I mean, I wouldn't even know what I was missing."

"You'll never lose all of us, Mokuba," Marik said, stepping forward.

"That's right," Téa agreed. "You'll always have people who care."

"But it still feels horrible to lose anyone I care about," Mokuba said. "I'm so happy we didn't lose Lector." He looked at the still-amazed man. "I already lost you once, when you betrayed us. I don't wanna lose you again!"

"I don't want you to either," Lector said.

Suddenly he really focused on everyone who was in the group. "Where's Nesbitt?" he asked in confusion. "I thought maybe he was just holding back out of discomfort or feeling awkward, but . . ." Alarm filled his eyes. "He made it out, didn't he?!"

"Yes, he made it out," Gansley said. "He wasn't badly hurt in the explosion."

Marik nodded. "Nesbitt and Mokuba both saved my life."

Lector slumped back. "Then where . . ."

Crump sighed. "Nesbitt's outside the building. He wouldn't come in."

"Why?!" Lector demanded.

"First he went off to seek revenge," Gansley said. "He blamed your father."

A cloud passed through Lector's eyes. It was hard to say Nesbitt was wrong in that.

"But when we caught up with him after he screamed at your father . . ." Johnson looked haunted. "I don't even know how to explain this. . . . He started insisting that he was an android, that he had never been human, and that he didn't feel any kind of human emotions."

Lector stared at him. "What?!"

"Johnson thinks he did that to himself because he couldn't face the grief over your being dead," Gansley said.

Mokuba stared too. "That's awful," he gasped.

Lector shakily swung his legs down from the couch and tried to stand. "I have a hard time believing he could possibly be that affected by me being dead," he said. "Maybe that creature's controlling him again."

"Well, perhaps," Gansley said. "In any case, we couldn't get through to him at all. You, however, might be able to."

"I'm certainly going to try." Lector stumbled, but got to his feet.

"Are you dizzy at all?" Johnson asked in concern.

"Some," Lector admitted. "But that's not enough to stop me."

"We'll all go down with you," Johnson said. "But then we'll let you take the lead in talking to Nesbitt."

They gathered around Lector, walking with him and making sure he didn't fall. Mokuba followed behind with Seto and the rest, his eyes bright with joy and awe as he watched.

"Dr. Portman has hit a new low," Marik said in repulsion.

"I can't believe she really put everyone through all of this just for one of her sick little experiments!" Téa cried.

"Believe it," Seto said. "And if Nesbitt has really gone off the deep end, this 'experiment' is going to be very far-reaching." His eyes narrowed. "I won't forgive her for what this sick experiment did to Mokuba."

The walk down the hall and the elevator ride to the ground floor were very tense. Lector especially was distressed, not knowing what he was going to find when he stepped outside. He could scarcely comprehend the level-headed Nesbitt reacting in such an extreme manner. Running off to scream at his father was very believable, but the rest . . .

They reached the first floor and Lector went ahead of the others to step outside. "Nesbitt?" He looked around, not seeing the other man. "Nesbitt, where are you?" He could see Yugi and Atem standing around looking tense. Nesbitt had to be nearby. . . .

Then Lector's frantic call processed. Yugi and Atem both started and turned. "Lector?!" they both burst out.

"It's a long story," Lector said. "I'm alright. . . . I was given a drug that made me look dead."

"That's sick!" Yugi cried. "But . . ." He smiled. "I'm really glad you're okay."

Atem nodded. "We both are. And I know Nesbitt will be."

Suddenly Nesbitt came out from behind a tree. "Stop, human! Where are you going?"

Lector did stop, and he stared at Nesbitt in utter disbelief and horror. The man's eyes were cold and dead. He was speaking as though he wasn't human, just as the others had told him.

"Nesbitt, what is wrong with you?!" Lector burst out. "You know you're a human. What's more, you're speaking as though you don't know me!"

"I don't," Nesbitt said flatly. "And as for being a human myself, negative. I am a machine, a perfect creation without emotions or heart. They are unnecessary and only get in the way of the very important work I'm doing."

Lector's mind went blank. He had never understood Nesbitt's obsession with machines. He had pretended to think he was a robot in Noa's world, but this was the real world. He knew he was human! What could have happened to him? He knew what Johnson had theorized, but could that really be true? What if Yami Marik was at work again, as Lector had thought? Was he controlling Nesbitt to think he wasn't human?

"I will admit, you do resemble someone I once knew in another existence," Nesbitt continued. "But that time is long gone. Get out of my way or I will be forced to remove you from my path."

"No," Lector retorted. He folded his arms. "I'm not moving from this spot. You'll have to move me yourself, Nesbitt, and as you know, I'm as strong as you are, if not stronger."

"No human is stronger than a machine!" Nesbitt roared. He lunged and extended his arm, but instead of punching Lector, he kept it poised as though about to shoot something from it at Lector.

"What are you trying to do?" Lector demanded. "You don't have any kind of weapon that's going to come out of your arm and attack me. You'll just have to do it the old-fashioned way."

Nesbitt trembled. "No. . . ."

"No, what?" Lector peered at him. "No, you don't have a weapon or no, you don't want to attack me with your bare hands?"

Nesbitt turned away. "Go away," he said weakly. "Don't . . . don't do this to me. . . ."

"And just what am I supposed to be doing to you?!" Lector countered.

"You no longer exist," Nesbitt replied. "Stop making me malfunction and think you might be here! It hurts too much. . . ."

Lector stared at him. "Nesbitt . . ." He took a cautious step forward. "I'm not dead."

"Negative!" Nesbitt spat. "Don't come any closer."

"Nesbitt!" Lector grabbed the other man's arm. "Can't you feel this?! I'm real! I'm not a hallucination you're having! And you just said 'it hurts.' You still know you're a human! An android doesn't hurt!"

Nesbitt screamed. "This does not process!" He fell to his knees, digging his hands into his hair. "The dead don't come back. They can't come back. . . . System failure! System failure!"

Lector was chilled. "No," he gasped. "Johnson was right, wasn't he? That madman didn't do this to you! You did it to yourself."

"Negative," Nesbitt insisted. "I have always been a machine. Never a human. They're weak. They're all weak! Foolish emotions and short life expectancies. A machine lives on!"

"Nesbitt, I am not dead!" Lector dropped to his knees in front of him and grasped his shoulders. "You look at me. You may like to think you're a machine, or maybe right now you feel like you have to think it because you can't process what reality seems to have handed you, but you are all human. Your emotions control you! You hardly know how to be emotionless and robotic."

"No," Nesbitt choked out. "No. . . . Machines are better than people. They don't lose people they care about. They don't waste time mourning or grieving or other such nonsense. They don't . . ."

"And you don't have to!" Lector interrupted. "Nesbitt, I'm alive! I survived the explosion with only a small bump to my head. Someone—most likely Dr. Portman—apparently stuck me with some kind of drug that made me look dead. I came to back at the hotel and Gansley, Crump, and Johnson told me how you were acting when they found you! Look." He rolled up his sleeve, revealing the injection wound. "She stuck me right here."

Nesbitt stared. "She . . . she drugged you?"

"That's right," Lector said. "Nesbitt, I'm alright!"

Nesbitt sharply exhaled, shaking. "Lector . . ." He reached out, gingerly touching Lector's shoulders before moving his right hand down to feel his heart beating. His shoulders slumped and he fell forward, trembling. "I thought . . . I thought you were dead. It's the first time I've ever lost someone I actually care about. I couldn't handle the grief. It was the most horrible, crushing feeling I've ever experienced! I had to lock it away. I had to pretend I couldn't feel, because I . . . I couldn't go on feeling that way, and to feel the good, I had to also feel the bad. And . . . I couldn't . . ." He choked and started to sob.

Lector stared at Nesbitt in sickened horror. Dr. Portman was no doubt watching, and she was no doubt having a field day with this.

"My poor friend," he whispered. "You have more of a heart than anyone knew, including you yourself." Slowly he drew an arm around Nesbitt's shaking shoulders. "It's going to be alright. I'm still here."

When Nesbitt got control of himself, he would most likely be mortified at his actions. But right now, he was too broken and confused to care. He slumped against Lector, wanting the comfort he didn't know how to ask for and the assurance that Lector was indeed alive. And even though it was awkward and uncomfortable for Lector to see him like this, he did his best to comply.

"Do you think he's going to be okay?" Mokuba wondered.

"I think so," Gansley said.

"But they'll probably be having a long conversation when he finally calms down," Johnson said. "We'll probably all have such conversations with Lector eventually. . . ."

Mokuba looked down. "Yeah. . . ." He definitely wanted to talk more with Lector himself, once things settled down.

"Lector . . ." Nesbitt finally looked to him, still trying to fully accept that this was real, praying with all his heart that it was. "I . . . I never even told you . . . or any of the others either . . . that I love you. Too much pride, I guess . . . and maybe not really realizing it was true. . . . But I didn't deny it when the girl Serenity told me that's how I felt. I love you . . . every one of you. . . ." He looked to Gansley, Crump, and Johnson, then back to Lector. "And I thought your father had taken away my chance to tell you."

Lector looked back in moved surprise. "Oh, Nesbitt . . . I already knew that," he said. "You didn't have to say it."

"You knew?" Nesbitt rocked back. "But . . . how?"

"You told me in your actions," Lector said. "When you stayed despite everything. . . . When you gave up your life for me. . . . When you became so devastated because of what that thing made you do to me. . . . And in a million other ways, some big, some small." He looked firmly into Nesbitt's stunned eyes. "And I love you too. My brother. . . . All my brothers. . . ." He looked up at the others. "I couldn't have a better family."

Gansley, Crump, and Johnson came and knelt by them as well.

"No . . . you couldn't," Gansley said with a bit of a smile.

"None of us could," Crump said.

"And we love you as well," Johnson said firmly.

They all moved in to embrace each other.

It was Crump who saw the strange shadow flying over them first. "What the . . . ?!"

Everyone looked up with a jerk.

"What is that?!" Yugi cried.

"It looks like a Duel Monster," Atem gasped.

"Berserk Dragon!" Lector exclaimed. That was a monster they all knew all too well.

Indeed, a gigantic Berserk Dragon was flying overhead. Even more bizarre, someone was sitting side-saddle style on its back, laughing maniacally. Around her neck, a glowing jade amulet was all too visible.

Lector leaped to his feet in disbelieving horror. "Evangeline?!"


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter Seventeen**

"Oh no," Atem exclaimed. "That _is_ Evangeline!"

"What happened to her?!" Yugi cried. "Why would she put on that amulet?!"

"Why?" Evangeline's voice had an eerie and odd echo. "To take vengeance on those who deserve it."

"And who would that be?" Atem asked.

"My father!" Evangeline declared. "And Dr. Raven! And all of his employees. Everyone who deceived me and everyone who played a part in sending my brother to his death!"

Lector's heart twisted. "Evangeline, I'm not dead!" he protested. "Look at me! I'm alive!"

Evangeline locked eyes with him, but her expression didn't change. "Another lie. You're an optical illusion courtesy of Dr. Raven. I'll be taking care of him next." She turned away, and the Berserk Dragon gave a mighty flap of its wings as it soared into the night sky.

"Wait a minute! Next?!" Téa gaped. "Does that mean she already 'took care' of someone?!"

"Our father," Lector realized.

"She probably got the amulet from him," Nesbitt said. "He must have been hiding it somewhere in the mansion!" He snarled. "I should have thought! When I was in there, the amulet was the last thing on my mind!"

Lector was already taking out his phone and frantically dialing home.

"What?! You're worried about him?!" Crump exclaimed.

"I'm worried more for what will happen to Evangeline if he isn't alright," Lector replied. "The law will hardly accept 'corruption by a magical artifact' as a good defense for patricide."

Crump gulped. ". . . Good point. Only, the way she is now, it's not like the law could ever catch up to her!"

Lector shifted, waiting impatiently for an answer. When the phone was finally picked up, it was his mother on the other end. "Hello?!" she snapped.

"Not much Southern hospitality there," Crump winced.

Fearing the reason for that, and also fearing the woman's reaction to his identity, Lector drew a deep breath and said, "Hello, Mother. . . ."

"Démas?!" she screamed.

Lector held the phone away from his ear with a wince. "Yes. . . ."

"Everything's a catastrophe over here!" Mrs. Leichter exclaimed. "Your sister put on a cursed amulet, blasted your father, and summoned some kind of horrible creature from another dimension to fly away on!"

". . . How is he?" Lector asked.

"He's on the floor saying over and over that he killed you, that he set up the bombs at the warehouse to destroy . . . evidence, and you were caught in it." Mrs. Leichter hesitated. "He is just delirious, isn't he?!"

Lector had gone stiff, stunned and betrayed by the news. "I . . . he . . ." He gripped the phone. "I don't know, Mother. I _was_ caught in an explosion, but I thought Dr. Raven set it up. . . ."

Gansley came closer to offer support. Lector gave him a grateful look.

"In all honesty, Mother, I'm afraid it probably is true," he continued. "Evangeline wouldn't have lost control and taken the amulet unless something drastic happened. Realizing our father caused something like this could certainly do it."

Mrs. Leichter gasped. "Oh no. . . ." She hesitated. "Démas, are you hurt badly?"

"No, I'm alright," Lector told her. "Tell Father that I'm alive and I'll find a way to save Evangeline."

". . . I'll tell him," Mrs. Leichter said slowly.

Lector was badly shaken as he hung up the phone. "My father set the explosion," he said. "He wanted to get rid of any evidence that he'd stolen the crates. . . ."

Nesbitt snarled. "I should have done more to him when I was there!"

"It sounds like Evangeline did quite enough," Lector said.

"I think I really will punch him out, like I'd thought of doing before!" Crump cried indignantly.

Seto's eyes flamed with outrage. "Mokuba could have died in that blast!" he ranted. "Dr. Raven deliberately tried to abduct him, and when that failed, Mokuba went there anyway to save Marik! I'll bring down the entire weight of the Kaiba Corporation on both Dr. Raven and your father when this is over, Lector!" He tightly clenched a fist.

"The police will probably throw the book at him as it is, unless he tries to worm his way out of it with a sleazy lawyer," Johnson said.

"If he feels guilty enough, maybe he won't," Lector said. "Maybe he'll own up to what he's done. But we can't worry about that right now. We have to find Evangeline!"

"Well, she's going after Dr. Raven," Téa said slowly. "But does she even know where he is?!"

"She sure flew off like she knew where she was going," Crump remarked.

"So it looks like it's time to get everyone together again so they can spread out and look," Mokuba said. "Plus, we need to let the others know Lector's alive!" He pulled out his phone. "They don't even know that yet."

"And be careful of Dr. Portman," Lector cautioned. "She must be around, watching us. I'm sure she's the one who stuck me with that drug."

"We'll watch for her with pleasure," Gansley said darkly.

"And don't try to take Evangeline on by yourselves," Atem warned. "Only those with magical items should attempt it."

"So that would be you, Yami Bakura, Kaiba, and the Big Five," Marik finished.

"Exactly," Atem nodded.

Everyone's phones started dinging repeatedly as Mokuba's text about Lector was replied to from every group. Mokuba beamed. "Everyone's so happy." He looked up at Lector. "I am too."

Lector smiled at him and looked down at the incoming texts in amazement. So many former enemies, now just overjoyed that he was alive . . . even though some were confused, too.

 _That's awesome! But . . . wait, how did he cheat death this time?_

That was from Joey. Lector quickly tapped a reply.

 _I didn't, Mr. Wheeler. I wasn't dead. Someone—presumably_

 _Dr. Portman—stuck me with a drug to make me look temporarily dead._

A response came back within less than a minute.

 _Why, that snake!_

Lector certainly agreed with that sentiment. He sighed as he typed the next message.

 _And we can't relax yet. My sister Evangeline found the amulet, which_

 _my father really did steal. It's taken her over and she's seeking revenge_

 _on everyone who hurt me. She already attacked our father. Now she's_

 _after Dr. Raven. And she's riding a Berserk Dragon._

Again the texts began pouring in from everyone. Joey's summed up everyone's feelings.

 _WHAAAT?!_

Quickly everyone began pledging to help search the city for the wayward Evangeline. Crump sighed, watching the texts fly past from nearly everyone in the extensive group. "So . . . when we do catch up to her again, then what?" he wondered. "I mean, you convinced Nesbitt you're real, but is that same approach going to work on somebody who's under an evil spell?!"

"I don't know," Lector said. He had already felt overwhelmed. That wasn't helping.

"Hey, I have an idea," Téa said. "Do you think anyone would go to Angelique's diner? I mean, the bad guys seemed to be hanging out there. Maybe after things settled down, they'd figure the police would never look for them there."

"I wouldn't think they'd be that foolish," Lector said, "but it wouldn't hurt to look."

xxxx

No one wanted to search places alone, nor was it advised, so Lector ended up at Angelique's in the company of Nesbitt and Crump. The diner had been closed all day due to Angelique's absence, but as Crump rattled the doorknob, the door creaked open.

"Well, that's freaky," he commented. "Maybe some of the bad guys really are here. If they are, I know just what I'm gonna do with them."

They all walked inside, Lector cautiously reaching to turn on the light as they went.

"It looks deserted," Nesbitt said.

"Let's make sure of that," Lector said.

Crump stayed alongside Lector while they roamed the main room and then headed back into the kitchen. ". . . I told Gansley I couldn't believe you were really gone," he said quietly. "Only now that you're back, that's kind of hard to believe too. This isn't the dream, is it? And I'll wake up with Gansley telling me you're dead?"

"It's not a dream," Lector said. Pain flashed through his eyes as it really stabbed into him how deeply his loved ones had been hurt. He knew all too well how they must have felt; the memory of his own pain after he had found them dead following Khu's attempt to kill him was fresh on his mind. And Mokuba too; the drug had been wearing off as the boy had been there crying over his body. Even though Mokuba had saved Marik, Mokuba probably didn't or couldn't think about that at all. Instead, his mind was no doubt filled with Lector having to get him out of there and being hurt in the process.

And Evangeline . . . ! Lector ran a hand over his face. How was he going to save Evangeline?

"I guess you probably wish this part of it was, huh, Buddy?" Crump said. "With your sister gone nuts and all. . . ."

"I don't know how I'm going to help her," Lector said despondently.

"Just be very firm, like you were with me," Nesbitt said. "Insist that she listen to you."

"I don't think that's going to be very easy with the amulet controlling her," Lector said. He looked sick. "All along, I thought the great evil we had to fight was Dr. Raven. Now it looks like it's the amulet itself . . . and my corrupted sister." He looked down at his ring. "With her having summoned a Duel Monster, we'll no doubt have to do the same thing. You realize that, don't you?"

Crump hadn't. ". . . Ho boy."

"We were expressly told the priest was the evil," Nesbitt said. "This must be something that Shadi person hadn't planned on happening."

"Oh? We're evil, are we?"

All of them jumped a mile. Dr. Raven's assistant Amelia had suddenly appeared in the kitchen doorway, grinning and leering at them.

"Yeah, you kind of are," Crump said. "And I'm gonna pay you back for locking me and Kaiba in the freezer and making Johnson think he'd been poisoned!" He took a step forward.

"Be careful," Nesbitt warned.

Amelia cackled and darted into the hall. When the Big Three gave chase, they found two of Dr. Raven's henchmen flanking her. "Try to catch me now, Mustache," she taunted Crump.

"We don't have time for foolish pranks," Lector snapped. "Where's your boss?"

"Not here," Amelia giggled.

"Well, he's gonna get a visit from a nutso girl riding a dragon," Crump said, stepping forward, "so if you wanna get a warning to him, you'd better tell us where he is."

Lector caught sight of Yami Bakura and Bakura entering through a door at the other end of the corridor, but he said nothing and hoped that his eyes would not give their presence away. This could be just what they needed to get these people caught.

"And why would a girl on a dragon visit him?" Amelia countered.

The Big Three started to advance, forcing them to back up.

"Basically, because she wants revenge for everything he's done to her brother," Crump said. "And that sounds pretty good to me, too."

Yami Bakura sneered, quietly opening the freezer door. Bakura stood by, eyes wide.

The Big Three charged without warning, Crump leading them in an attack. Even as Amelia and the henchmen yelped in surprise, they were driven backwards into the freezer.

"There," Crump said with a sneer, taking the door from Yami Bakura and slamming it shut. "Now you can feel what it's like!" He set the lock in place.

Amelia just seemed amused, but the thugs were starting to panic. They ran over, banging on the window. "Let us out!" one of them yelled.

"Tell us where your boss is," Crump countered.

"In the bayou!" the second thug cried. "Please, we didn't have anything to do with anything!"

"You helped Dr. Raven kidnap Marik Ishtar, with the intent that either he or somebody else was gonna die," Crump countered, folding his arms. "And that almost caused two of my best buddies to kick the bucket. Not to mention that when one of them really seemed like he was gone, my other best buddies were so heartbroken they didn't know how to deal with it. So . . . yeah, I'm leaving you in there too."

"Oh my," Bakura gasped. "You're not really going to . . . ?!"

"Eh. They can stay in there until we get the cops here to arrest them," Crump said, flicking the window. "Me and Kaiba were trapped for hours. They can stand it for thirty minutes or so."

"Well, I suppose. . . ." Bakura still looked concerned.

Yami Bakura wasn't. "The bayou is a very large area," he grunted. "I would say we need to acquire more specific directions from them."

"Not to mention that there are many different bayous," Lector said, "including two within the city limits."

"We should probably start there, don't you think?" Crump said.

"I suppose so." Lector frowned at Amelia. "But which bayou—St. John or Sauvage?"

"Oh, you will find the people you seek easy enough," Amelia grinned. "Just look for the girl on the dragon."

"How would she know to go to any bayou?!" Lector shot back.

"The amulet she wears will guide her to her prey," Amelia said.

"Well, you sure don't seem very upset about that," Crump noted. "Don't you care about the guy at all?"

Amelia laughed and shrugged.

"And why is Dr. Raven at the bayou?" Lector demanded.

"He likes to work his magic there," Amelia said eerily. "He can't get the amulet from your father now, but he can wait for the girl and have a showdown with her over ownership of the amulet!"

Lector stared at her. "Then you were only pretending to not know about her a few minutes ago!"

"Of course," Amelia laughed.

Nesbitt had stepped away to call the police on his phone. Now he stepped back. "The police are coming," he said.

"And we should be on our way." Crump waved at the trio in the freezer. "Bye-bye now."

Lector was troubled as they walked back up the hall. "Crump . . . what else happened while I was out of it?" he asked. "I know about Nesbitt, of course, but from what you said to those people, it sounded like there was even more trouble."

Crump froze, caught. "Well . . ." He scowled. "Darn it, I didn't want you to have to know all of it. I shouldn't have said what I did. Johnson tried to revive you, and when he couldn't, he just got shellshocked. Wouldn't speak or nothing."

Lector stopped walking and just stared at him. "He went catatonic?!"

"Yeah, that's it. And Gansley, he was so broken-up he couldn't deal with it at all and just wanted to consider you dead because it hurt him too much to pray for a miracle he didn't think we could get."

"And you?" Lector said quietly.

"Me, I wanted to believe you'd be coming back," Crump said, equally quietly. "But I really 'knew' you were dead. Wanted to break down bawling, but . . . I didn't."

"I am so sorry," Lector said in chagrin.

"Hey, it wasn't your fault," Crump said. "You had to protect the kid and all. But boy, I'm telling you, I sure get how you must have felt when Khu killed us."

"It was one of the most horrible times of my life," Lector said.

"While this is all very touching, perhaps you had better tell us about the two bayous in town," Yami Bakura grunted. "We need to determine where to go."

Lector sighed. "Bayou Sauvage is a wildlife preserve—in fact, the largest urban wildlife preserve in the United States. Bayou St. John is more of a lake where people go to canoe or fish. But if you can figure out where a _vodun_ priest would be more likely to go, you're a better man than I."

"Well . . . it sounds like maybe we should try Bayou St. John first," Bakura suggested. "It would be smaller and less cumbersome to investigate. Plus, I wonder if we could even access a wildlife preserve at night. . . ."

"It might prove difficult," Lector agreed. "Although we may have to check them both. But we'll check Bayou St. John first."

"I've gotta say, I dunno why a voodoo priest would hang out in a wildlife preserve anyway," Crump said. "Bayou St. John is probably the best one to start with."

"That's perfectly alright with me," Yami Bakura shrugged.

"It would be a lot more difficult for Dr. Raven to do anything in concealment at Bayou St. John, however," Lector said. "There are houses all around the lake. Bayou Sauvage has more areas to hide out. There are also places very near to New Orleans, such as the Jean Lafitte National Park and Preserve, that have bayous."

"Oh great!" Crump groaned.

"Well . . ." Bakura gave a weak smile. "It sounds like we'd better get started."

xxxx

As luck would have it, Dr. Raven was definitely not at Bayou St. John, leaving everyone with the problem of how they were going to access the wildlife preserve in the middle of the night.

"There's probably a gate or something, right?" Joey frowned. They had all gathered at the bayou to look around and now were meeting at the edge of the water. It was calm, the moonlight glittering upon it from above. Across the water, houses' reflections and their lights stood calm and welcoming near the shore.

"Maybe there's even guards," Tristan worried.

"Maybe you guys will have to summon your dragons with your rings and fly in that way," Mokuba suggested, looking up at Seto and the Big Five.

Seto paused, considering that. "It's not a bad idea," he admitted. "But without light from something like headlights, how are we going to see well enough to find anything?"

"The crazy lady _did_ say to just look for the girl on a dragon," Crump said. "It can't be too hard to spot a Berserk Dragon flying through the night sky."

"And it would sure be easier than trying to see Dr. Raven on the ground," Téa said.

Seto frowned down at the diamond ring on his right hand. "There's always the chance the rings won't activate," he said. "It sounds like they're pickier than Yami Bakura's Infinity Ring."

That suddenly reminded Yugi that they hadn't told Yami Bakura what they had learned about said Ring yet. Now certainly wasn't a good time to spring such information, but hopefully when everything was all over there would be a chance.

"Well, hey, what's the harm in trying, you know?" Crump held out the fist with his blue ring. "Let's try it!"

"We're all going to do that?" Johnson said, eyeing Crump's pose.

"That's how everyone's posed on the box," Crump shrugged.

"And probably on _Captain Planet_ ," Lector muttered under his breath. But he consented to striking the same pose.

When all six of them had gathered, they closed their eyes and concentrated. Would it work? It was hard to say. But surely this was a crisis that would qualify for the rings' activation. . . . They focused long and hard, thinking of their signature beasts.

"Something's happening!" Téa abruptly cried.

They opened their eyes. All of their rings were glowing. And then, from just above them, a large portal opened in space. Mighty roars echoed through the night air and Blue Eyes White Dragon flew out, followed closely by Five-Headed Dragon. The two behemoths landed nearby, studying their owners questioningly.

"Oh wow," Mokuba breathed.

Seto just stared for a long moment before approaching one of the majestic creatures. He reached up, touching its face before moving his hand along its neck and towards its back. "A real Blue Eyes," he whispered.

The Big Five were gawking at their Duel Monster. "It's massive," Gansley remarked. "There's room for all of us and more."

"There'd better be room for everybody, because we all wanna go along," Joey said.

"Between the two dragons, I'm sure that can be arranged," Atem said. "But perhaps we'd better travel by car until we come to the preserve."

"Fine with me," Crump said. "But the dragons can fly above us and let us know when they spot something."

That sounded like a logical arrangement. No one protested.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter Eighteen**

Everyone was tense and amazed both on the drive to Bayou Sauvage. It was impossible not to keep looking up at the dragons flying out ahead of them. It wasn't the first time there had been real monsters, but every time it happened was always an awe-inspiring event.

"You know," Joey commented, "I don't think we've ever even dealt with the Five-Headed Dragon when it wasn't connected with the Big Five, except for that time in Shadi's Capsule Monsters game."

"And same with Blue Eyes White Dragon and Kaiba," Tristan noted. "I'm pretty sure Capsule Monsters was the only time we saw it when it didn't have something to do with either Kaiba or his ancestor."

"It's kind of cool that those monsters are connected with them so strongly," Serenity said.

"I wonder what monsters are supposed to make up the five heads," Joey frowned. "When I think about it, the monster the Big Five uses isn't the same one we saw in Capsule Monsters. I mean, the dragons that got together to make it were different."

"That's true," Atem nodded. They were all traveling in one of the rented vans to reduce the number of vehicles they needed to take. Tristan was driving.

"I never thought about it before, but you're right," Yugi realized. "I'm not sure all of them were different, but the one in the middle definitely was."

"Yeah! The Big Five's middle dragon head was kind of dull yellow or light brown," Joey remembered. "The Capsule Monsters one was turquoise."

"And the Capsule Monsters' dragon was definitely a bad guy," Tristan said. "Apparently the Big Five's dragon doesn't have to be."

"That's still weird to think about," Joey said. "I mean, they were actually worried about me and Tristan last night!"

"Everyone was worried, Ding-Dong," Mai retorted.

"Yeah, but the Big Five . . . !" Joey shook his head.

"I think it's awesome," Téa finally spoke up. "I'm really glad we've made friends with a lot of our former enemies."

"Uh huh, and you're probably especially glad about Kaiba," Mai quipped.

Téa went red. "Huh?! Well, of course I'm glad that he's not an enemy anymore too!"

Yugi looked ahead to the van where the Bakuras, the Ishtars, and the Kaibas were riding. "So am I," he said quietly. "I wanted to make friends with Kaiba for a long time. And in spite of Atem's frustrations with him, so did he."

"Maybe especially because of my frustrations with him," Atem corrected.

Duke leaned back, watching the scenery change as they neared Bayou Sauvage. "The dragons haven't alerted us to anything yet," he said in concern. "What if they're not here either?"

"Or maybe she landed and the dragon's hidden under some moss-covered tree," David suggested.

"Let's not lose hope," Atem said. "We're just approaching the fringes of this preserve now."

"Which means we'll all have to get out and ride Dragon First Class," Téa gulped. "I hope they really will be able to hold us all. . . ."

"If they can't, we'll just have to draw straws on who stays behind," Tristan said.

"This is one experience I really wouldn't mind passing on," David said.

Joey rolled his eyes. "Come on! You and Duke didn't ride Red Eyes when the Big Five hijacked Kaiba's augmented reality game. You guys should give dragon-riding a chance now!"

"We probably will, unless there's just not room," Duke said, twirling a piece of hair around his finger. "Then it would be logical for us to be the ones to drop out." He frowned. "Although I'd hate to sit out the fight in there, even if we can't really do much to help."

Tristan pulled over to the side of the road. Up ahead, the other vehicles were doing likewise. "Well," he said, "it's time to see what we've got here."

The dragons landed in the grass just beyond the vehicles and bent down to allow everyone to climb on as best as they could. With Blue Eyes, it was fairly straight-forward. With the Five-Headed Dragon, it was a puzzle.

"So . . . should we each sit behind our chosen elemental head?" Nesbitt wondered.

"I suppose so," Lector said.

"My dragon's head is constantly in flames!" Nesbitt sputtered. "What if I end up falling on its neck?!"

"Maybe you've got some kinda natural immunity to it?" Joey suggested. "Or maybe there's an invisible barrier around it?"

Scowling, but knowing he needed to test it himself to be sure, Nesbitt slowly reached out a finger towards the flaming neck. His shoulders slumped in his relief when nothing happened. "I guess there is a barrier," he said. "Although maybe only for me."

They all climbed aboard.

At the Blue Eyes White Dragon, Seto was struggling again over what to do about Mokuba. And Mokuba himself didn't feel up to pleading to come along.

"If you want me to stay back, Seto, that's okay," he said quietly. "I probably should; I'd probably just get somebody else hurt. . . ."

Marik looked over with a jerk. "Now just a minute," he protested. "Mokuba, you saved me! I would have tried to escape through the window of my prison and ended up setting off a bomb if you hadn't come right then. And you got me out of the room all by yourself."

"And then I couldn't get us back out and I got Lector hurt trying to save me," Mokuba trembled. "Even though it was Portman who made him look dead, he could have been killed because of me!"

"Mokuba . . ." Seto bent down to be at his brother's eye level. "Lector chose to help you. You didn't get him hurt. And Marik's right that you saved him. At some time or another, each person is able to help another person, and then other times they're the ones who need help instead. It's never always one way or the other."

Mokuba looked away, blinking back tears. "I guess. . . ."

"I would be dead without you, Mokuba," Marik said quietly. "And without Nesbitt too. We all help each other."

"And unless there isn't room for some of the others, I'd rather you come along," Seto said. "There's no way I'm leaving you here alone."

Finally Mokuba nodded. "Okay. . . ." He slowly climbed up on the dragon first. Seto immediately followed and sat behind him.

As it turned out, all of the others were able to fit on the massive beasts, and soon the dragons were taking flight once again, soaring into the wildlife preserve.

Mokuba started to cheer up as they flew. "This really is amazing," he breathed. "It's a real Blue Eyes. . . ."

"It still seems unreal," Seto grunted. But from his eyes, he was thoroughly enjoying himself and was awed and amazed by the ride. He and Mokuba had ridden dragons before, but usually only in games. They had ridden a real-life Red Eyes, but not a Blue Eyes.

"It's really hard to see anything down there," Téa said in concern. "What if we miss them?"

"Right now we're over open ground," Seto said. "It's more likely they're in the trees."

"And there's other things in the trees too, like gators swimming below them," Tristan gulped.

"Gators?!" Joey quaked.

"And who knows what else," Duke muttered.

"Gah!" Joey wailed.

"It's going to be okay, Joey," Serenity soothed.

"Maybe," Joey retorted. "If you're not afraid of gators, Sis."

Serenity shivered. "Well . . . maybe we won't have to meet any," she hoped. "Although if they don't hurt us, it would be kind of cool to see them. . . ."

"I can think of things that are a lot more cool!" Joey shot back.

After several minutes the area began to look more like classic pictures of New Orleans' swamps, with thick trees draped in Spanish moss looming over the murky water. Strange shadows began to form in the scenery, and Joey shifted in distress.

"Are my eyes playing more tricks on me?" he whimpered. "What's all that?!"

"Some of it's probably just shadows cast by the moon," Tristan said. "But maybe one of them's Dr. Raven!"

"I just saw a glint from something down there," Lector announced. "That could be his green crystal."

"Then let's go down for a closer look," Gansley said.

Both dragons were still in the process of coming down when green sparks lit up the night sky and a female voice screamed on the wind. "This is for my brother! My father set up those bombs, but you didn't have to take advantage of them! You deliberately killed Démas!"

A male voice screamed in surprised pain. There was a crash, though it didn't keep him down long. In a moment he was up again, and firing his own green sparks from his crystal.

Now it was the girl yelling in pain. At the same moment, Berserk Dragon gave a strange hissing roar.

"Evangeline!" Lector cried out in terror.

"You!" Dr. Raven whirled, directing his staff at the Big Five. "How did you survive?!"

"You don't already know?" Lector snapped. "You're supposed to be such a powerful magic user. I hear you know things, such as that two specific people would be coming here whom you would want to scare with a little coffin trick."

"Yeah, that's right!" Joey yelled, shaking a fist. "You ordered those coffins with our names on them way ahead of time, you big creep!"

Dr. Raven sneered. "My powers afford me some information, but sadly not all."

While their enemy was distracted, Lector held up his ring, willing it to work. It glowed, and tendrils of darkness began to swirl out from it and towards Dr. Raven to confuse him. Lector, however, hadn't quite expected the ring's powers to be like that. He trembled and fell back, his concentration and will broken. _He didn't want to be reminded of being cast into the darkness. . . ._ This might not be an evil darkness, but the other certainly had been. And both looked quite the same.

Johnson, who was sitting next to him, gently reached and pushed his hand down. "I'll take care of it." He willed his ring to activate, and it conjured fog and mist to close in around Dr. Raven.

"Don't cover him up!" Evangeline suddenly screamed. "I need him visible to enact my vengeance on him!"

"Evangeline, you have to stop this," Lector begged. "I _am_ alive! You saw even Dr. Raven recognized it! Obviously I'm not an illusion he made!"

For a moment Evangeline wavered. Then she snarled and leaped back on her dragon's back. "Go forward!" she ordered. "You can pierce through the fog! Find Dr. Raven so we can kill him!"

Berserk Dragon roar-hissed. It opened its mouth, releasing four gleaming fireballs one right after the other. Terrified, Dr. Raven tried to retaliate from inside the fog, but he could not. One fireball hit its mark and he went flying back against a tree, only to slide to the ground with a pained grunt.

"Aww, poor Dr. Raven," Crump couldn't resist taunting. "One little overpowered girl and her pet dragon are too much for you?"

"I wouldn't do that, Crump," Gansley cautioned. "He probably has something right ready for a counter attack."

"And we'll make sure he doesn't get the chance to use it," Crump vowed.

Green sparks were flying at them in the next moment. Gansley countered by raising his Earth ring and activating its powers. The ground underneath Dr. Raven shook and cracked, sending him tumbling backwards.

"Alright!" Joey grinned. "Yeah! Give it to him!"

Crump quelled the still-approaching magic blasts by using a blast of his ring's Water powers. The sparks were soon shorting out.

"Nice thinking," Yugi said, smiling.

"I could get used to this," Crump said.

Dr. Raven got back to his feet once again, this time loudly chanting something while waving his staff above the cracked spot on the ground. The fissure began to close.

Evangeline was diving at him again now, blasting him hard with both hands while her Berserk Dragon also prepared to blast. He only barely managed to counteract in time.

"So . . . what're you guys planning to do here?" Joey wondered. "You had to have more of a plan than just sitting around laughing at them both!"

"I am hardly laughing at my sister," Lector snapped.

"I've gotta say, would it really be so terrible to let Evangeline take the creep out?" Crump said.

"I can't say I wouldn't root for her to do it," Lector admitted. "But even so, it's not something I want to try to have Evangeline recover from. I doubt the police would agree with her motives." He looked down at the dragon. "Take us closer."

The Five-Headed Dragon obeyed, swooping down and hovering just above the struggle. Lector jumped off, landing in the grass between them. "Evangeline, I need you to listen to me," he said firmly. "I am not dead. If you can help us disarm Dr. Raven, that would be wonderful. But I don't want you to kill him."

"You _are_ an illusion he cast!" Evangeline shrieked. "You're just trying to protect him!"

"No, Evangeline, I'm trying to protect _you,_ " Lector countered.

Gansley saw first that Dr. Raven was about to use the distraction to blast Lector with his staff. "Look out!" he yelled.

Seto noticed too. He acted immediately, blasting Dr. Raven off his feet with a beam of light from his ring. The corrupt priest roared in frustration.

Evangeline slipped around Lector and grabbed the staff before Dr. Raven could protest. "Now you're powerless!" she cried. "And I . . ." Her eyes widened. Green sparks and tendrils of electricity emerged from the staff's orb and traveled down her arm. When they reached the jade amulet, an explosion of light circled completely in its glow. She gripped the staff horizontally above her head with both hands. "Now I am the most powerful voodoo queen there ever was!"

"Oh boy," Joey gulped.

"Now she's got two magic items!" Duke said in horror. "What's she going to do now?!"

Dr. Raven began to back up on the grass, utter terror on his face. "There is no hope now," he said.

Yami Bakura jumped down next to him and wrenched his arms behind his back. Nesbitt leaped down to join him.

"You were going to use the power of both objects yourself," Yami Bakura growled. "What was going to happen when you did it?"

Dr. Raven's visage contorted in pain as Yami Bakura twisted his arms and Nesbitt started to pull him to his feet. "I was going to take over the world, I admit it," Dr. Raven gasped. "But at least I would have handled the power better! The girl is young and impressionable and emotional. She has no idea how to handle either object! They're controlling her instead of the other way around!"

Lector stared in horror as Evangeline leaped onto Berserk Dragon and posed to take to the skies. "This world is mine!" she screamed. "I will be its ruler and everyone in it will bow down to me!"

Thunder crashed above them as lightning streaked through the sky, apparently in response to Evangeline's declaration and her possession of the artifacts. The ground started to rumble.

"What the heck?!" Joey screamed.

Duke clutched Serenity close, turning pale as dark clouds began to spread out across the entire sky.

David grabbed Duke. "I guess it goes without saying that this is bad," he exclaimed over the thunder.

"You think?!" Duke shot back.

"I wonder if I can stop the earthquake," Gansley growled. He raised the ring and concentrated. Instead, his ring's power hit a barrier and he gasped, falling forward on his dragon's neck.

"Oh no you don't!" Crump exclaimed. Together, he and Johnson grabbed Gansley and kept him from falling off altogether.

Gansley slumped against his friends. He didn't want to say he was defeated, but he was definitely at a loss. "Why couldn't I stop it?" he said in dismay.

"We're so new to these powers," Johnson said.

"But so is she!" Gansley retorted.

"Only she's being controlled by the objects," Nesbitt called from the ground. "They must have some kind of sentience."

"Well, that's the creepiest thing I've heard today," Crump exclaimed.

"But it makes sense," Nesbitt argued. "And it gives them the edge. They know all the ins and outs of their magic."

"I suppose," Gansley said. But his eyes flickered. There was no way he wouldn't feel like a failure in this scenario.

Seto, meanwhile, was trying to quell the thunder and lightning. In a moment he snarled in frustration. "I'm not having any better luck," he said.

"There's only one way we're going to stop this." Lector ran for Berserk Dragon and desperately started climbing up its side. "Evangeline!"

"Oh my gosh!" Téa cried. "Is that dragon going to stand for that?!"

Crump was panicking too. "Lector, get down from there!" He jumped down from the Five-Headed Dragon and ran over to him. "It's gonna throw you in the swamp or something! Or blast you!"

Instead, Berserk Dragon growled low but didn't try to stop Lector's ascent.

"I don't know," Yugi said. "Maybe Berserk Dragon remembers that he's Lector's dragon too."

"I'm not taking a chance on that!" Crump shot back.

Gansley gripped his dragon's head, his knuckles white. He doubted he could follow them, but . . . maybe Berserk Dragon really wasn't going to harm Lector. . . . Still, what about Evangeline in her crazed state? Nesbitt had been controlled so thoroughly that he had hurt Lector, and judging from his sheet-white appearance, that was definitely on his mind.

Johnson was stiff, not sure what to do. "Maybe we should stay here," he said to Gansley. "Maybe we can help from the sky if something goes wrong. . . ."

Gansley clenched his teeth. He didn't know where they should be. He was their leader, but he was at a complete loss right now. This was not a situation he had ever once thought they would have to deal with.

"I'll get on Berserk Dragon's other side," Seto said. "If it's surrounded, it won't be able to take flight." He directed Blue Eyes to go to Berserk Dragon's left.

". . . That's a good point," Gansley had to admit. Seto was much more of a natural in this nightmare than he was.

To Evangeline's credit, she did not try to stop Lector from coming up to her. Instead she just stood and watched, glowering, her arms folded while she gripped the staff with one hand. But when Lector came and stood over her, she wavered.

"Evangeline, what's all this talk about power?" Lector demanded. "That wasn't what you wanted when you first put on that amulet."

Evangeline trembled, a lone tear slipping from her eye. "You're dead," she whispered, "and I've gone after the people who killed you. I don't have any home or family to go back to, so there's nothing left but to use the power I have now. . . ."

Lector's heart broke. He gently reached out, brushing the hair away from her face. "I'm not dead, Evangeline," he said. "Can't you feel this? An illusion couldn't touch you. And if I really was an illusion created by Dr. Raven, I'd have disappeared once you took his power from him."

Evangeline stared up at him in disbelieving awe. "Démas . . . ? You . . . you're real?"

"Yes," Lector insisted. "You don't have to fight anymore, Evangeline. It's over."

Evangeline suddenly sobbed. Her eyes stopped glowing and reverted back to their normal color. The amulet and the staff also ceased to glow, and the sky began to clear as the ground calmed. She threw her arms around Lector, clutching him close. "How can you forgive me?" she choked out. "How can you . . ."

"It wasn't your fault," Lector said softly, holding her close. "You didn't know what would happen when you took the amulet from our father. And honestly, getting the staff away from Dr. Raven was a good thing. You've helped more than you've hurt."

Evangeline sobbed harder, burrowing against Lector's broad shoulder. "I love you . . . so much. . . ."

"I love you too," Lector said, his voice cracking with emotion.

Berserk Dragon made a satisfied growling sound. It almost looked like it was smiling.

"Don't scare me like that again!" Crump yelled at Lector. "Once in a lifetime is all I can take. Twice in one night is overkill!"

"I'm sorry," Lector said to him. "There really wasn't any other choice."

Crump sighed, his shoulders slumping. "No, I guess there wasn't."

Joey slumped back too, a hand to his heart. "Whew. So all ends happy after all."

"Except for Dr. Raven," Téa laughed.

Dr. Raven, still held fast between Yami Bakura and Nesbitt, scowled deeply.

xxxx

Everyone flew back to the road on the three dragons. But as they neared their vehicles and the beasts lowered themselves to the ground, a figure standing in the road became visible against the night.

"Who's that?" Joey blinked.

Marik went stiff, catching the sight of wildly spiked hair. "Oh no. . . ."

Yami Marik waited until everyone was disembarking. Then he walked over to Gansley, much to everyone's surprise. "Hail the conquering heroes," he said with a mocking sneer.

"You big creep!" Joey yelled, shaking a fist at him. "What the heck are you doing here?!"

"I will never forgive you for what you did to Nesbitt last month," Lector snapped.

Yami Marik stuck out his tongue. "Good! That makes everything more interesting!"

"I'll never forgive you for making me hurt Lector." Nesbitt stepped forward.

"I wouldn't think you would!" Yami Marik exclaimed.

Gansley glowered at Yami Marik. "What do you want?" he snarled.

"So you've all returned, safe and sound," Yami Marik leered. "How amazing, all things considered."

"You've been spying on us all along, haven't you?" Gansley demanded. "You and that mad scientist friend of yours!"

"Who wouldn't have been able to torture you tonight about poor Lector if you hadn't let her go free several months ago," Yami Marik grinned.

Gansley gripped his cane. "She has never let us stop regretting our folly." His voice was dark, dangerous.

Yami Marik started to circle him like a predator taunting its prey. "Always calm and level-headed, aren't you?" he said. "That's why they wanted you as the leader. No matter what happens to all of you collectively or one of you individually, you never break. Not when Nesbitt was mind-controlled or Lector was attacked. Not when Johnson was almost run over or when you had to pretend Crump was dead. And not even when Lector's father tricked him into coming out here to be a scapegoat. Crump nearly got froze to death and Johnson thought he'd been poisoned. Then Lector was almost killed. He was laying there so still and apparently dead after saving Mokuba from that explosion, but you held strong. Johnson went catatonic and Nesbitt tried to pretend he was a machine and Crump kept hoping for a hopeless miracle, but oh no, you weren't going to snap too.

"I wonder what's going to happen next?" He paused for effect, then said, "Maybe I can help it along."

Suddenly Gansley screamed. It was a loud roar, an old lion who had been pushed too far for too long and couldn't take it any longer. Even Yami Marik was startled. Before he had the chance to do anything, Gansley's cane was flying at his head. The crack resounded up and down the deserted street and the madman fell to the ground. Gansley was on him in an instant, beating him again and again, his eyes filled with rage.

The others ran up while he was still striking the demon into the pavement. They ground to a collective halt, staring in shock at the scene before them. For the moment, no one was quite sure what to think or do. Gansley had lost himself in rage, but Yami Marik wasn't mortal; he couldn't be killed. And how many times had many of them wanted to do exactly what he was doing? Even Téa couldn't deny that she had. But still . . .

"Mr. Gansley, stop!" Serenity cried, running forward.

Gansley didn't. Every hit, every blow, was paying this creature back for more of the agony they had been all going through. Khu trying to assimilate Lector into the darkness. . . . Khu killing them all except Lector and Lector being left alive to suffer. . . . Lector's pain having his friend turn against him. . . . Nesbitt's anguish over being mind-controlled into hurting him. . . . Johnson's immense guilt over not being targeted as much as the others when he felt he thoroughly deserved it and they, especially Lector, didn't. . . . Crump getting locked in the freezer. . . . Johnson believing for hours that he had been poisoned and might die. . . . Lector being given that drug to make him look dead, just to make the rest of them suffer. . . . Johnson freezing, unable to speak. . . . Nesbitt denying his humanity out of grief. . . . Crump unable to believe Lector wouldn't be back. . . . Gansley being forced to watch it all, to try to deal with it and keep everyone else calm, to never break. . . .

Crump finally ran past Serenity and over to their tortured leader. "Hey, hey, hey! You must have made pulp out of him by now!" He grabbed Gansley from behind and reached for the upstretched arm with the cane.

Gansley pulled away. Yami Marik was indeed a bloodied mess on the asphalt. But even now he just stared up at Gansley, sneering, taunting him.

"I'll remember this," he hissed. "Your rage . . . I love it." The damage to his body began to mend as he started to fade into the shadows, laughing, laughing.

"You leave my family alone!" Gansley screamed. "Leave them _alone!_ " He fell back, breathing heavily, and finally just let Crump embrace him from behind.

"We're all okay," Crump soothed. "It's going to be alright."

The other members of the Big Five came over as well.

"I am so sorry," Lector said quietly.

"I thought I was concealing a lot of pain," Johnson said. "You've tried to take on all our pain for all of us, plus your own."

"I couldn't have taken it for so long," Nesbitt said. "I've been snapping all over the place."

"I can't take it anymore," Gansley choked out. "I can't. . . ."

"Of course not, if you keep trying to do it all on your own," Crump said.

"Please let us help you," Lector implored. "We want to."

"You've always done so much for us," Johnson said.

"You've always been there when we needed you," Nesbitt said. "We're here for you now."

Gansley looked around at all of them, a little in awe . . . grateful . . . amazed . . . moved. His biological family had left him, just as most of Lector's had him, but they had each other. Together, they were more a real family than any unit that had chosen to abandon one of its own.

"Thank you," he rasped. "Thank you. . . ."

The others stood by and watched as they helped Gansley to his feet. With the burst of outrage past, he looked old again, and tired, and yet, with them all there for him, he looked stronger than he had been before.

"Man, I didn't know he had that much power left in him," Joey muttered. "The way he was going at Yami Marik . . ." He shuddered. "I can't say I really cared what happened to Yami Marik, but just knowing Gansley's physically capable of that kind of attack . . ."

"Gansley's tougher than he looks," Seto grunted. "He always has been." He studied the group. "They all have been. . . ."

Mokuba tried to relax. "So . . . is it all over now?" he said hopefully.

"Except for turning Dr. Raven over to the authorities," Seto said. "And sending the dragons back. . . ."

Lector gave a heavy sigh. "And I will have to see my father one more time. . . ."

"Why bother?!" Crump exclaimed.

"I need to let him know I'm alive," Lector said.

Evangeline suddenly looked worried. "Did I hurt him really badly?"

"I don't think so," Lector told her. "It's mostly his conscience hurting him."

Evangeline made a face. "Just as it should be." She hesitated. "I'm really disappointed in all the family, to be honest. I don't really feel I belong there anymore."

"You could come back to Domino City and live with me," Lector suggested.

Evangeline smiled. "I'd like that . . . only I'm also not sure I want to move away from here. I love New Orleans. I feel like it's been tainted by our family's behavior, and I want to make it feel beautiful to me again. You don't know anybody who might like a roommate, do you?"

"I'm not sure," Lector said. "We'll have to see."

They all started as a portal opened in the sky. The three dragons roared their farewells before starting through it.

"Goodbye!" Mokuba waved. He looked to Seto. "I guess they automatically go back when they're not needed anymore?"

"I guess," Seto said. He stared through the portal, watching Blue Eyes until the doorway closed.

"Well . . . that was pretty amazing," Crump said. "But let's not do it again anytime soon, okay?"

No one disagreed.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter Nineteen**

The butler at the Leichter manor definitely lost his composure when Lector arrived this time. "Mr. Démas . . . !" he gasped. "You . . . you're . . ."

"Not one of the undead, I assure you," Lector said coolly. "I survived the explosion. Where is my father?"

"U-Upstairs in bed," the butler stammered.

"Thank you." Lector walked past him, Evangeline walking alongside. Everyone else trailed after him, much to the butler's shock.

The door to Mr. Leichter's room was open when they arrived on the second floor. Mrs. Leichter, still at his bedside, looked up with a start. "Démas. . . . Evangeline. . . ."

Evangeline averted her gaze. "Hello, Mother."

"How is Father?" Lector asked.

"He's . . . better than he was," Mrs. Leichter said. "Right now he's just resting."

"I see you didn't tell the butler about my phone call, Mother," Lector noted.

"No, I didn't," Mrs. Leichter admitted. She stared at Evangeline with nervousness.

"Evangeline is free of the amulet's control," Lector said.

"Oh. That's good," Mrs. Leichter said, guardedly.

"And Dr. Raven has been arrested," Lector continued. "So have his employees. I'm sure they'll all be put away for a long time."

Mr. Leichter groaned in the bed. "Démas?"

"Yes. . . ." Lector stepped forward. "How are you feeling, Father?"

Mr. Leichter weakly shook his head. "I set those bombs to go off. . . . I almost killed you. . . ."

"And I'm sure the police will have a lot of questions for you," Lector said. "I appreciate that you feel terrible for almost blowing me up, but what about getting me out here in the first place just to be a target for Dr. Raven? If he had set those bombs up instead of you, and I truly had died, would you have been so upset?"

"Démas!" Mrs. Leichter admonished.

"It's a good question, Mother," Evangeline said. "I'd like to know the answer too."

"I . . . don't know the answer," Mr. Leichter said despondently. "I want to believe I would have, but I don't know. . . ."

"And don't you have something to say to your father, Evangeline?" Mrs. Leichter prompted.

"Yes, I do," Evangeline said. "But it's probably not what he wants to hear.

"I wish I could say I feel badly for blasting you, Father, but I'm afraid I don't. No matter what Démas did that was wrong, it's no excuse for the way he's been treated by you and almost everyone else in this family. I know that 'Honor thy father and mother' is important, but so is the parents honoring the children. Children should feel safe with their parents, not left worrying that they're going to be tricked and used any time they don't measure up to whatever the parents' standards are. Parents should try to help their children get back on the right path, not disown them and make them feel unwelcome in their own family!"

"Evangeline!" Mrs. Leichter exclaimed.

"Yeah! You tell 'im," Joey encouraged.

Lector looked to Joey in a bit of surprise.

"And Démas has been trying to turn his life around on his own, without anyone in the family having pushed or encouraged him to do that," Evangeline continued. "It takes a lot of courage to admit you were wrong and change for the better, especially all on your own. He should have been supported, not betrayed by his own father!

"The whole family betrayed him, really." Evangeline looked to Mrs. Leichter. "Me too. I should have moved out and insisted on being able to contact him. Instead, I let Father rule me just like he rules you and Marie and even the other kids who don't live here anymore! Well, no more. I don't feel like I can stay here anymore . . . not if you still feel the same about Démas." She looked from one parent to another.

"I . . . don't know the answer to that either," Mr. Leichter said morosely.

"I never wanted Démas to be used the way your father did," Mrs. Leichter said.

"But you felt you had to accept that it was happening, just because of Father being the head of the household," Evangeline said. "I don't care if he's technically the head; you don't just stand by and let him do something horrible to someone else you're supposed to care about!"

Mrs. Leichter looked away.

"Let's blow this place," Crump said in disgust. "I think everything that's going to be said has been said."

Lector nodded. "I suppose we may need to stay on a bit to give testimony in court, but as soon as possible, I want to go back to Domino City. That's my home now; I don't know if New Orleans will ever be home to me again."

Mr. Leichter gave a heavy, defeated sigh. "Then . . . goodbye, Démas."

"Goodbye, Sir." Lector turned away. Although he hoped his mother might call him back, she did not.

"So, what are you gonna do?" Crump asked Evangeline as they walked back up the hall.

"I don't know either," she sighed. "Maybe I should stay until morning, at least. . . . Give them a chance to think over what I said. . . . They wouldn't give Démas a chance, but I don't want to be like them."

"Just don't let yourself be taken in and tricked by them," Crump said in concern. "They might try to use you."

Evangeline managed a small smile. "I'll be careful, thanks." She smiled more. "I'm so glad that Démas has such good friends."

"So am I," Lector said. "And I'll be back to see you tomorrow, Evangeline."

"That's wonderful," Evangeline beamed. "I'll look forward to it."

It was only when the group stepped outside that something really occurred to Lector. He stopped, a saddened look passing through his eyes.

"Lector?" Mokuba looked up at him.

"What is it?" Gansley asked.

"I just realized," Lector said. "Evangeline isn't calling our father 'Daddy' anymore."

"Her childlike idolization of him has passed," Gansley summed up.

"And who can blame her?" Crump said.

"No one can," Lector said. "But . . . I never wanted her to lose her innocence like this."

Gansley sighed sadly and drew an arm around Lector's shoulders as they headed for their vehicles.

xxxx

At the hotel, everyone prepared to go back to their suites to have dinner. The Big Five were just heading to theirs when Lector heard someone running after him. He turned, not entirely surprised to see Mokuba.

"Are you okay, Lector?" the boy asked. "After what happened with Evangeline and seeing your parents again and all?"

". . . I don't know," Lector admitted. "It's so much to take in. I wish it wasn't real. Everything that's happened out here seems like a nightmare that doesn't end."

"I know what you mean," Mokuba said. "I always feel like that when there's a lot going on that me and Seto are involved with. . . ." He looked down. "I . . . I felt so horrible tonight . . . like it was my fault that you . . . well . . . didn't seem to be okay. . . . It always seems like people are getting hurt because of me. . . ."

That was what Lector had been afraid of. He knelt down at Mokuba's eye level. "I assure you, it wasn't your fault, Mokuba," he insisted. "You were very brave, running in to rescue your friend. He probably would have been beyond hope had you waited for Nesbitt and me to find him."

"Yeah. . . . I try to tell myself that, but I still feel horrible to have to sacrifice one friend to save another." Mokuba shuddered. "I just kept thinking how you'd been having such a rotten time and you wanted to leave and go home to make sure your friends would be safe, and then you tried to save me and got killed. . . ."

Lector sighed sadly. It wouldn't do much good to point out that he hadn't been dead; that wasn't the issue. He could have died rescuing Mokuba, and that was what Mokuba was still troubled about.

"As I've told you, you saved me, Mokuba," he said. "I was returning the favor . . . although as far as I'm concerned, I'm still in your debt. I can never fully repay you for what you've done for me, and for what that in turn has done for the others. Nor can I ever begin to pay back all the heartache and pain I've caused through the years. I never wanted to hurt you. I never wanted anyone else to hurt you either. But once we agreed to turn over our holdings to Pegasus, everything went downhill from there."

Pain flashed through his eyes. He had never wanted Pegasus to take Mokuba during Duelist Kingdom. Then he had learned that Mokuba had not even been Pegasus's honored guest, but a helpless prisoner. And the disasters hadn't stopped after Duelist Kingdom; he hadn't been able to do anything when Gansley and later Nesbitt had tried to vent their frustrations on Seto by going after Mokuba. He _had_ realized with relief that Gansley had not been trying to kill Mokuba; since they were in virtual reality, Mokuba would have survived the Five-Headed Dragon's blast. But there had still been the principle of the thing, and that had been horrible. Not to mention he really didn't know what Nesbitt had planned on doing with Mokuba in Noa's world. Had Noa not intervened, Lector would have tried to get Nesbitt to turn Mokuba over to him after his disastrous duel with Seto.

Mokuba shook his head. "That's all over," he said softly. "I forgave you, Lector."

"But I haven't forgiven myself," Lector replied. "I wonder if I'm little better than my father, or what I thought your brother was like. All the times you become collateral damage during so many of our schemes. . . ."

"You never wanted that," Mokuba said. "And your dad just coldly wanted to throw you away. You never felt like that about me. Seto didn't either," he felt he had to add.

"No, I . . . _we_ didn't," Lector said, and Mokuba smiled at the acknowledgment of Seto. "But I'm going to be soul-searching about this for a long time."

Mokuba hesitated. "You know, I've wondered something. When we were all in Noa's world, I was the only one nobody wanted to duel. I probably knew more about dueling than Tristan or Serenity, but nobody challenged me even though Duelists were the ones wanted for the tournament! Why?" He stared into Lector's eyes. "Was it because of you?"

". . . Yes," Lector admitted. "I convinced the others not to duel you. I didn't even want you there, but I should have known you'd come."

"And did you ever think what would happen to me if you trapped Seto somewhere?"

". . . I did. Since I felt he wasn't good for you and only used you, I was going to adopt you myself," Lector said. "Not that you would have accepted me under the circumstances."

"No, I wouldn't have. But . . . even when you were really twisted, you always cared about me," Mokuba said softly. "It's nice to know that."

"That's true," Lector agreed. "But it doesn't make up for everything I did that hurt you."

"Well . . ." Mokuba hesitated, then leaned in and hugged Lector. "Just remember that it's over, that things are different now. And . . . I love you. You know, speaking of adoption . . . I wish . . . I wish you could have adopted both Seto and me instead of Gozaburo. . . . I've wanted to tell you that for a while. . . . I wanted it years ago, after Gozaburo started acting like such a jerk, but Seto didn't go for it. He felt we had to stay with Gozaburo to have the best possible position in life. And . . ." He looked down. "By that time, he didn't trust Gozaburo or anyone else. He didn't think things would be any different with someone else."

Lector stared at him, stunned. If he had adopted them in the first place instead of Gozaburo, that might have changed everything, in a positive direction. The boys would have been safe with him. Seto never would have been brainwashed and abused and turned into the ruthless creature Lector had despised so much. The other Big Five members would have been like their uncles. They would have been a strange but happy family. Maybe the others would have even abandoned their crooked practices much sooner.

But it never would have happened. Children had always made him uncomfortable and he never would have visited an orphanage to put on a false front of enjoying their company. What he had started to privately wish, however, was to have known about the abuse before it got so serious that it turned Seto cold and ruthless. Mokuba didn't even know about most of the abuse at all. Lector supposed Seto had kept quiet out of fear of Social Services separating the brothers once they got involved, and fear that Mokuba wouldn't get into as good a future as he had by being an heir of Gozaburo Kaiba, but had Lector known, he would have insisted on adopting both boys. They would have stayed together. And if Gozaburo had been arrested for child abuse, he would have been dismissed from his position as CEO of KaibaCorp. Lector might have taken over, as he had wanted, and the boys would have still had a good future.

It was all a moot point, though. None of it had happened, and thinking on it was pointless.

". . . I wish I could have adopted you both too," he said at last. "I love you, Mokuba."

He hugged Mokuba close, then released him and straightened. They went to their respective suites, casting a Goodbye look to each other before vanishing inside.

xxxx

After their late dinners, most of the different groups decided to attempt sleep. Many of them were not sure, however, that sleep was possible any time soon after such a night.

Crump watched Gansley worriedly as he started to unfold the daybed. "How are you feeling, Buddy?" he asked. "For real, no trying to pretend you're okay."

Gansley paused. "I . . . don't know," he had to admit. "It's all so overwhelming. . . . We've gone through one thing after another ever since we betrayed Gozaburo to take over KaibaCorp. Our lives haven't gone right at all since then, except for one thing—how much closer we've become through all our trials. And it seems like the universe has nothing better to do than try over and over to split us up by harming us." He gripped the quilt. "I thought maybe now we would finally get a reprieve from our suffering, and then that demon had to show up and taunt us. When he threatened more harm, I just couldn't take it anymore. Especially after all that we've been through tonight. . . ."

"Hey, if you hadn't flipped, I probably would have," Crump said. "It was the last straw and he knew it."

"But you finally stopped me," Gansley remembered.

"For you, not him," Crump said. "When you just kept at it so hard, I got worried. But I might have gone at him even harder."

Gansley sank onto the daybed. ". . . Have I really been a good leader?" he wondered. "I led us into so much misery and chaos, and then I couldn't get us back out. Everything I tried just sank us deeper into debt."

Crump sat next to him. "Everything we did was always a group decision," he insisted. "You never tried to seize control or flaunt your power. We all agreed."

"But I should have known better than to try at least some of what we did," Gansley said, staring off into the distance. "In the end, it was Lector who realized we were getting nowhere."

"Lector was always better than the rest of us," Crump said. "I dunno why he liked us. . . . Nah, I do. He always saw the good in us. He didn't like a lot of what we were doing, but he liked _us._ "

"And we were a bad influence on him." Gansley sighed. "He was always the honorable one, but when we lost that duel to Yugi and Joey, he refused to give back what he thought was Tristan's body out of bitterness."

"Maybe it wasn't bitterness so much as it was frustration and wanting to help us all get out of Noa's world," Crump said. "Okay, so we had some pretty twisted plans for how to get out, but Lector was always rooting for all of us to make it. He never tried to be self-serving about it."

"As far as I know, we were all trying to help each other," Gansley said. "Even Nesbitt tried . . . before he thought he'd acquired a body and could get out himself. Sometimes I wonder . . . would any of us have been any different in his position?"

"I dunno," Crump frowned. "I like to think so. . . . And Nesbitt really figured he would have regretted leaving us, if he'd made it out. I think if any of us had a self-serving moment, we all would've regretted it in the end."

Gansley nodded. "And I suppose it really doesn't matter now. We know we wouldn't do anything like that anymore, even if we would have in the past." He laid down on the daybed. "I think I'm going to try to go to sleep."

"Okay." Crump got up. "We probably all should. . . . Hey, maybe tomorrow we could really enjoy a Mardi Gras parade or something."

"Perhaps," Gansley said.

Crump hesitated a moment before blurting, "And come to me or any of the others if you need to talk. Don't keep it all inside."

Gansley smiled slightly. "I'll keep that in mind. Goodnight."

"Night." Crump headed for the bedroom.

Johnson was waiting for him there. He looked up from where he was sitting on one of the beds, seeming awkward and unsure of what to think. "How is he?" he asked when Crump entered.

"Gansley?" Johnson nodded. "I think he's okay. Still kind of struggling a bit with how to feel, but that's understandable."

"I don't know how to feel either." Johnson stared down at the emerald ring. "Mostly about this saving the world idea. Do you think it's over?"

"Until the next crisis comes along," Crump shrugged. "Which . . . could be any time." He grimaced.

Johnson sighed. "That's what I'm afraid of. Actually, I handled it alright, even though it was a strange experience. But I'm worried about Lector. None of us really considered what, exactly, would happen when he used the power of his ring. As soon as I saw those strands of darkness, I knew it was going to go over poorly for him."

"No kidding," Crump said. "It'll take him a while to be able to deal with that, I'm sure."

"I wish I could switch rings with him," Johnson lamented. "Do you think that would be allowed?"

"You're asking me?" Crump snorted. "I'm all for it, but who knows what the creepy magic guy would think."

Johnson took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I'd do it if I didn't worry it might backfire on Lector, since he's apparently _supposed_ to use the element of Darkness. But that's such a cruel irony after what Khu did to him!"

"A lot of things on this trip have been cruel ironies," Crump said. "And then every now and then it makes sense, like me getting locked in a freezer and finding out what it really feels like."

"I still don't like that that happened to you," Johnson retorted.

"Who would?" Crump quipped. "Except maybe our hated enemies.

"How are _you_ doing, by the way?" he asked.

Johnson started. "I'm alright," he insisted. "I'm glad Lector didn't have to see me catatonic . . . but I'm sorry you and Gansley did. I know how it was hurting you. I heard everything you said; I . . . I just couldn't make myself speak. . . ." He shook his head. "It was just too horrible. . . . Lector lying there, and me unable to revive him. . . . I couldn't handle it after everything else. . . ."

"You really freaked me out, that's for sure," Crump said. "But I know you were grieving over Lector. And . . . well, I'm just glad you did end up coming out of it. Even though I'm sorry about the reason why."

"Nesbitt. . . ." Johnson sighed. "It's good that he's sharing the other room with Lector. Hopefully that will help him."

"I hope so," Crump said. "But I also hope you'll be okay."

"And I hope _you_ will," Johnson said. "You've been trying to shoulder people's pain too."

"But I've been trying to talk out my own, unlike Gansley was . . . until tonight." Crump looked weary.

"Hopefully we'll _all_ be okay," Johnson said. He laid down. "I'm going to try to sleep, if I can."

"Sleep sounds pretty good to me too," Crump said. He reached and turned the light off before laying down on the other bed.

xxxx

Lector wasn't quite sure what to think about anything. He supposed he should talk one on one with all of the others, but he couldn't guarantee that he would even know what to say if he did. He knew he didn't feel comfortable wearing the amethyst ring if there wasn't danger that required it, so he slipped it off and placed it on the nightstand. His hand trembled slightly as he did.

Nesbitt was watching his every move. He seemed awkward but silent, not sure what to say yet possibly wanting to talk. And Lector was sure that he needed to talk with him, after the way he had broke down because of thinking Lector dead. Yet on the other hand, Lector wasn't sure what to say that he hadn't said already, so he wondered if it was better to stay quiet.

"Are you alright?" Nesbitt asked abruptly.

Lector started. "Why wouldn't I be?" he slowly asked. "Well . . . I'm still upset about most of my biological family, of course . . . but otherwise . . ."

"I saw how you looked when you tried to use that ring and darkness came out of it," Nesbitt said.

Lector looked away. "I should have known that's what would happen, but I wasn't thinking about it at all. Yes, I must admit that was extremely troubling for me." He stared at the ring. "I don't know if I have the strength to use it. . . ."

"Maybe you won't have to again," Nesbitt said. "If you do, we could always switch rings." He held up his. "You said yourself that you can be good at Fire. And we know I'm a dark person. I'm sure we could wield each other's rings with ease."

"That _is_ tempting," Lector admitted. "I suppose we have until the next magic-based crisis to think about it. The way things go, I'm sure there will be another."

"You're probably right," Nesbitt said in resignation.

"More's the pity," Lector muttered.

". . . You've never really talked about the darkness," Nesbitt said, looking both awkward and guilty now. "If you want to . . ."

"I don't know," Lector brusquely interrupted. Then, sighing, he looked away, his shoulders slumping. He _was_ grateful for the consideration. ". . . It was the most terrifying experience of my life. It took me in . . . swallowed me whole . . . and then I was part of it. All I could think of were all the things that had hurt me—my family, Gozaburo, Seto, my own foolishness . . . and right then, the rest of you. Thinking that you'd all abandoned me was what I couldn't take after everything else. I couldn't stop thinking about it and being upset about it. That was the one thing I thought I'd never lose—your love."

"And that was why the darkness took you," Nesbitt whispered in sickened horror. "None of us thought you couldn't resist its pull. . . . None of us realized that you would see it as a betrayal, because we felt you'd betrayed us. Then it was too late. . . ."

"My love for Mokuba finally brought me back to myself," Lector said. "I remembered how he tried to save me, even after all I'd done."

"How did you ever trust us again?" Nesbitt wondered.

"I'm not sure I did trust any of you fully until you all sacrificed yourselves for me," Lector said. "But the seed of trust was planted when I saw how genuinely saddened all of you were at the thought of my leaving you all behind. I didn't want to believe everything was all over. Johnson acknowledged that we'd all made mistakes and he wanted there to be trust again. I wanted that too." He looked morosely at the ring. "I've forgiven all of you. But I don't know if I can ever get over being absorbed by the darkness enough to feel I can wield that."

"We'll switch rings," Nesbitt insisted. "We're not our ancestors; we're not bound by the rings they chose."

"Thank you," Lector said quietly.

". . . Last night you asked me about my family, Lector," Nesbitt said suddenly. That seemed such a lifetime ago now. . . . "I didn't want to tell you then, but I do now."

Lector regarded him in surprise. "Go on," he encouraged.

Nesbitt sighed. "They're all still alive. . . . They haven't abandoned me and I haven't lost any of them. . . . Actually, I had a completely normal and happy childhood and life in general . . . until I hit puberty."

Lector winced, suddenly realizing where this was going.

"All of you figured out that I'm asexual and aromantic," Nesbitt said. "My family never did. When I was supposed to start getting interested in sex and romance and girls and I just didn't, they started to get worried. At first they thought maybe it was just a delayed reaction. But it never came. Then they thought maybe I had other romantic interests and was repressing it, but I was never interested in boys, either. I've never had a sexual urge. I don't know what it feels like. I don't _want_ to know. And I'm not interested in forming any kind of a romantic relationship, even one without sex. I've never been attracted to anyone.

"My family kept trying to figure out how to force me to be 'normal.' I can't count the number of relationships they tried to push me into. Finally I just had enough. I told them it wasn't going to happen and that until they could accept me as I am, I didn't want to have any contact with them. And I left." Nesbitt sighed. "None of them have tried to contact me, so I can only assume that means they still can't accept it."

"I'm sorry," Lector said quietly. "That must have been so difficult for you."

Nesbitt nodded. "You can't imagine what a relief it was to find that all of you figured it out without me saying anything and none of you were bothered by it . . . although Crump doesn't understand it in the least."

"We all respected your life choices," Lector agreed. "Even Crump. And even though I'm not opposed to the idea of a romantic relationship, I'm not looking right now. I'm happy with my life the way it is. I would be angry if someone tried to force a relationship on me."

"Anyone with sense would be," Nesbitt grunted. "I don't like talking about my biological family or the problems we have, but thinking you were dead and experiencing what it really is to lose someone I love made me reconsider. I didn't want it to be secret from you."

"That means a great deal to me," Lector said.

"I'll admit, I didn't think I would ever care deeply about anyone," Nesbitt said. "But I discovered that I do."

"And any true love is just as deep and beautiful as a romantic love," Lector said.

"Yes," Nesbitt agreed. "Of course I care about my biological family, but I was never really that close to any of them. I was always distant, preferring machines since I could understand them. So I suppose what I really meant when I said I'd never cared about anyone before I met you and the others was that I'd never cared so much. Maybe I would have gotten that close to my biological family if that trouble hadn't happened."

"You probably would have," Lector said. "But I am honored that you feel so close to us." He hesitated. ". . . And very sorry that you had to suffer so much because of thinking I was dead."

Nesbitt flushed. "If you ever wanted to think I'm a fool, there couldn't be a better time for it," he growled. "People don't pretend to be androids to lock their pain away."

"There are many different ways that people try to lock their pain away," Lector retorted. "You may have found a particularly creative way to do it, but you are certainly not the first. And when you never realized before just how much you care, it's understandable that the sudden grief would confuse and frighten you into trying to hide from it."

"I guess," Nesbitt grunted. "In any case, it's . . . nice that you see it that way. I wish I hadn't behaved like that, but it's . . . comforting that you don't see me as an idiot for it."

"I never thought anyone would care about me so deeply that they wouldn't be able to handle my 'death,'" Lector said. "I'm horrified that I caused so much pain for all of you, but I am glad to know that I am thought of so highly." He laid back on the bed.

Nesbitt turned out the lamp and laid down as well. "I never did understand you," he said, "and I know you've felt the same about me. When we first met, I was irritated by your Southern manners. But I soon found out you weren't one to mince words if you were upset about something. We have that in common."

"That's true," Lector said. "And in any case, we don't need to have a lot in common to care about each other."

"I didn't think that at first," Nesbitt gruffly admitted, "but I know better now."

Lector smiled a bit in the darkness. "We both do."

xxxx

Most of the rest of the group was still gathered in the Kaiba brothers' suite. Some were dispersing, wanting sleep, while others remained, still trying to sort out all that had happened that day.

"You know, I feel really bad for Evangeline," Serenity remarked. "I can't imagine what it would be like to realize that you couldn't trust most of your family. It was horrible for Lector too, of course. . . . I guess I especially sympathize with Evangeline because she's so young. Maybe I kind of see myself in her. And she doesn't seem to have the same kind of support Lector has with the other members of the Big Five. . . ."

"It's really tough," Duke admitted. "A lot of us have come from messed-up families, but we always knew they were messed-up. We didn't think they weren't and then find out otherwise."

"I don't really know what any of us could do in a situation like that," David said. "I can't even imagine what it would be like to find out my family is like theirs."

"Nothing you could do could take away that pain and that feeling of betrayal," Seto agreed.

"That's true," Téa said quietly. "But we could just offer support, and be there for both of them. . . ."

"We should," Yugi nodded.

Bakura petted Oreo as she walked on his lap. "Sometimes that's all one can do," he said. "But sometimes, that's what's needed most."

Oreo meowed.

Yugi looked to Atem. Was this a good time to reveal what they had discovered in the encyclopedia?

Atem wasn't sure any time was good, but he supposed it was better than some. "Bakura," he said, addressing Yami Bakura, "we learned something about the Infinity Items from a book Dr. Raven had on magical objects."

Yami Bakura raised an eyebrow. "Learned professors couldn't discover anything, but some voodoo witch doctor had all the answers?!"

"Well . . . not _all_ the answers," Yugi said, "but something important that we weren't expecting. . . ."

Atem heaved a sigh. "According to the entries for the Infinity Items, the . . . Infinity Ring is considered the 'leader' of the Items, the same as the Millennium Puzzle was for the Millennium Items."

Yami Bakura gawked at him. _"What?!"_

Echoing exclamations came from many of the others in the room.

"So wait, he's the leader?!" Tristan said in disbelief.

"Such responsibility," Ishizu commented.

Bakura was too stunned to speak.

Yami Bakura wasn't. "This is inane," he spat. "When I wanted such power I didn't have it. Now I'm trying to live without it and I have it? Only the Ring won't let me unlock it?!"

"Perhaps you have it now because you're worthy of learning how to wield it without Zorc's poison," Atem said. "There must be a way to make the Ring work more in harmony with you."

"I most certainly don't know what that way is," Yami Bakura growled.

"But you'll find out, Yami," Bakura said, finally finding his voice. He smiled, reaching up to lay his hand on Yami Bakura's wrist. "Every little while you discover a new power the Ring has. Eventually you'll learn them all. Even that angel Kasumi told you you're doing well."

Yami Bakura grunted. "Yes . . . she did, didn't she." He picked up the Ring in both hands. "Well, hopefully no one will regret this."

"They won't," Bakura insisted. "I believe in you."

Murmurs of agreement went up through the room. Yami Bakura just stared at them all, stunned.

"They're not afraid for you to lead them," Atem smiled. "Nor am I."

"You're not upset that I'm stealing your thunder?" Yami Bakura retorted.

"I wouldn't say you're stealing it," Atem said. "Although you're right that I'm finding it hard to get used to. I never thought this would happen, even after you received one of the Items. But . . . I am willing to do what is necessary to help humanity, even if now that means serving you." He held out a hand.

Yami Bakura stared at it for a long moment before he took it, grasping firmly. "You're swallowing your pride and affording me a great deal of trust."

"You've proved you deserve it," Atem said.

Bakura beamed, proudly.

Oreo meowed.


	20. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Music, laughter, and shouts of "Throw me something, Mister!" rang through the air as one of many parades went down the New Orleans street. On the sidewalk were hundreds of onlookers, including the extensive group from Domino City, plus three locals.

"You know, I think Angelique and Evangeline are really hitting it off," Téa smiled, watching as the two laughed and pointed out their favorite parts of the current float.

"Evangeline said they might move in together as roommates if it doesn't work out to stay at the family home," Serenity said. "She's still not sure." She shuddered. "It would be really hard to leave home. . . ."

"It sure would, especially under those circumstances," Téa frowned.

"We're going to have a fun girls' day out," Serenity continued with a smile. "She's going to show me the nearest Build-a-Bear store."

"She's still into that?" Joey blinked. Evangeline was ten years older than Serenity.

Serenity just smiled. "Sure. Why not?"

"No reason, Sis. I'm sure you'll have a blast," Joey said. He was, too.

Tristan watched as Evangeline and Angelique both leaped to catch a flying stuffed animal. Evangeline caught it and Angelique laughed, clearly enjoying herself despite not catching it herself.

"So much for that rivalry between families," Tristan said. "What was that all about?"

"It's some story about two rival _vodun_ priests clashing," Lector said. "Eventually things settled down when some people married into the families who didn't believe in _vodun._ Apparently when my father first started having trouble with Dr. Raven, Dr. Raven brought up the rivalry and insisted that he was going to force it to start up again unless he was allowed to stay on in the building my father wanted vacated. My father went along with it for a while, but kept trying to find ways to evict Dr. Raven when the customers complained. After he stole the amulet to keep it from Dr. Raven, that madman started this deal about threatening the family members."

"That's sick," Téa said in disgust.

"It sure is," Tristan scowled.

"Luckily, these two don't buy into it," Mai said, nodding to Angelique and Evangeline.

"Not to mention, Angelique is pretty well set after finding out her uncle lied about being the only relative she had left," Joey grinned.

"Lucky for her that Marcel Germaine seems to be more reputable than Dr. Raven," Mai commented.

"She was so surprised when we told her about another relative," Serenity said. "But happy too." She smiled.

"And he was pretty happy himself," Yugi said. "He didn't want to think that someday he had to leave the business to Dr. Raven as his only heir."

"Not that he could inherit anyway when he's in prison, and will be for a long time thanks to the attempted murder charges," Seto grunted with pleasure. "His hocus pocus won't get him out of that."

"And he doesn't even have magic now that his staff is gone," Serenity said.

"Ooh, let's hope," David winced.

"So what's going to happen to the staff and the amulet?" Mai wondered. "Shadi said the amulet needed to be turned over to him, but he hasn't come for it yet."

Atem sighed. "I suppose we'll have to hold onto both objects until he does."

"And I'm sure Lector's father is going to be dealing with the repercussions of his actions for a long time," Mai remarked. "Even though Lector isn't going to press charges for almost being killed in the explosion, Kaiba's going ahead with what he promised to do and suing the guy for almost killing Mokuba with his very illegal explosion."

"And the state itself is probably going to bring a lot of charges against him," Seto grunted. "We'll see if he owns up and pleads Guilty or not."

"I think he will," Lector said. "Everything's all out now; his reputation is shot." His eyes flickered. "And I don't know how to feel about that. Part of me says he deserves it. The other part knows how he must feel . . . and that part of me feels sorry for him."

"He should sure be willing to forgive you, after all the terrible things he's done," Téa spat.

"Forgive him?! Heh, that creep's the one who needs to beg for forgiveness!" Crump retorted.

"If he ever does, what will you say, Lector?" Atem asked.

"I still don't know." Lector looked away. "I don't want to be like him . . . but I don't feel I can just set everything he did aside and pretend it didn't happen. He was willing to let me die, even if he didn't want it to happen by his own hands."

"You shouldn't set it aside," Yami Bakura grunted. "He has a great deal to make up for . . . if he ever can."

"If I don't forgive him, I suppose I'll be a hypocrite since I'm trying to turn my life around despite all the terrible things I've done," Lector said.

"Forgiveness takes time," Seto said matter-of-factly. "And even if you forgive, trust may never come at all. I have never forgiven Gozaburo for what he did."

"And even if he was still around, trust would be totally out of the question," Mokuba said.

"I'm amazed any of you can forgive or trust me," Lector said.

"It's taken time," Seto said. "But you've given me enough reason to believe that you can be trusted."

"I'm glad," Lector said.

"And now you're finally able to bond with your nephew Gabriel," Bakura smiled.

"Yes," Lector said. "I'm glad of that."

Gabriel, who was standing near Lector, beamed. "I wish I could have met Uncle Démas before, but I'm glad I was finally able to meet him now."

"He's a much nicer boy than your other nephews, apparently," Yami Bakura grunted.

"Definitely," Lector declared.

"And a friend for Mokuba." Seto looked pleased at that.

So did Marik. "It's a shame we'll have to leave soon," he said. They had given their statements to the police and needed to get back to Domino City, especially since the trials might not be for several months. But they would all have to come back at that time.

"At least we're getting to enjoy the city now," Téa said. "And maybe we can enjoy it some more when we come back."

"We'll see," Duke grunted.

"Do you always have to be cynical?" Tristan said in frustration.

"Somebody has to," Duke said.

Oreo suddenly meowed. Beads were flying overhead and she reached out with a paw to catch them. She succeeded, and they landed around her neck.

"Oh Oreo," Bakura chuckled, gently taking them off for her own safety.

"It figures the cat would be the only one of us to actually catch something," Yami Bakura said with a roll of his eyes.

"Well, we all caught some crooks," Téa smiled.

Yugi nodded. "And we can be proud of that."

"Hey," Crump said suddenly, "do you think we'll have to deal with more voodoo when we come back?"

"Oh please, no," Johnson groaned.

Evangeline chuckled. "If you do, may it only be true, good voodoo." She linked arms with Lector. "I _was_ thinking of presenting all of you with dolls—the real kind that are used for good luck and blessings—but I wasn't sure how some of you would feel about that. So Angelique and I decided what you might enjoy more is an edible Mardi Gras tradition: King Cake."

Joey's eyes gleamed. "Cake?!"

"Oh yeah!" Tristan exclaimed.

"That sounds delicious," Serenity beamed. "We've been so caught up in this mystery, we haven't even had the chance to visit a local restaurant."

Téa nodded. "When we've ordered room service at the hotel, we've pretty much stuck to what we're familiar with."

"That's what we figured," Angelique said. "I've had several King Cakes prepared at the diner, so we can all go eat after the parade."

"Awesome!" Mokuba grinned.

"Why is it called King Cake?" Yami Bakura wondered.

"The tradition is that somewhere in each cake is a small figure of the Baby Jesus," Lector explained. "Whoever gets the piece with the figure has to buy or bake the next King Cake."

"And every person makes King Cake a little differently," Evangeline said, "so it's always a new experience."

Joey was still confused. "So . . . the figure bakes in the cake?" he blinked. "Why doesn't it melt?"

"You put it in after it's baked," Lector told him.

"The frosting hides where you put it," Angelique added.

"Oh. Well, that makes more sense," Joey said.

Following the parade, everyone headed down the street to Angelique's. The King Cakes were set on the tables, and Joey and Yami Bakura especially eyed them with hunger.

"Oh dear," Bakura suddenly realized.

Crumbs flew everywhere as Yami Bakura took a bite. Bakura tried to hide behind Oreo.

"Really?!" Lector exclaimed.

"Um . . . we're still working on table manners," Bakura whispered.

"So is there a figure in every cake?" Crump wondered.

"Yes," Angelique told him. "So there will be several cakes to collect next time. Hopefully all of you will be back."

"We will be," Gansley said.

Yugi ended up finding one of the figures, while Crump and Yami Bakura located the other two.

Yami Bakura blinked in bewilderment as he held one up. "I know nothing about baking," he grunted.

Bakura chuckled. "Well, maybe we'll just have to buy a cake," he admitted.

Oreo meowed. She just wanted to eat it!

"So, a good Mardi Gras tradition?" Evangeline asked.

"Works for me," Crump said. "The cake is great!"

"And of course, the best Mardi Gras tradition is being able to share it with our loved ones," Yugi smiled.

No one could disagree with that, especially after the time they had all had. Being able to walk away from it and come together with family and friends was the best possible celebration, for Mardi Gras or anything else.


End file.
